This volume offers an innovative rethinking of the Korean Wave (Hallyu) as a dynamic global phenomenon shaped not only by Korean cultural industries but also by the creative agency of international audiences. Global Dynamics of Hallyu moves beyond Korea centric and production focused interpretations to conceptualize Hallyu as a “third culture” and “regulative mode,” a framework that reveals how global audiences co produce meanings, aesthetics, and affective communities around Korean popular culture.

Through comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives, the contributors trace Hallyu’s evolution across K pop, K drama, K literature, K beauty, and cultural policy. The chapters highlight its deep entanglement with digital technologies, transnational fandoms, and post COVID cultural shifts. With case studies from China, Bangladesh, France, and the wider digital platform economy, the volume demonstrates that Hallyu is not a one way cultural export but an evolving communicative ecosystem that continually negotiates identity, technology, and globalization.

Empirically rich and analytically sharp, Global Dynamics of Hallyu is an essential reference for understanding contemporary global culture through the lens of media convergence and transnational exchange. It will appeal to scholars and advanced students in media and cultural studies, Korean studies, transnational communication, and global popular culture, as well as professionals working in cultural policy, creative industries, and international cultural relations.

Soongbeum Ahn is a Professor of Korean Language and Literature at Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea. He is the founding director of the university-affiliated K-Culture and Story Contents Research Institute, a position he continues to hold. He earned his PhD from Kyung Hee University and was a visiting scholar at The Ohio State University. In addition to his academic career, Professor Ahn has been active as both a film critic and a poet. He has served as Secretary-General of the Korean branch of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) and as a juror for the Busan International Film Festival. His research focuses on the Korean Wave (Hallyu) from a comparative cultural perspective, with particular emphasis on media-based narratology across film, television drama, and animation. He is currently editing Cultural Studies Keywords for Hallyu Researchers, an academic dictionary volume forthcoming from Palgrave Macmillan.

Ratan Kumar Roy teaches Sociology at South Asian University. He previously served as an Assistant Professor at the School of General Education, BRAC University, Dhaka. Dr. Roy is an Adjunct Faculty member at the Centre for International Development, Social Entrepreneurship and Leadership (CIDSEL), University of the Sunshine Coast, and an Affiliate Faculty member at the K-Culture and Story Contents Research Institute, Kyung Hee University. His recent editorial works include Korean Culture Fandoms: Affective Practices and Identity in a Global Context (Springer, 2026) and Television Publics in South Asia: Mediated Politics and Culture (Routledge, 2024). Alongside his scholarly publications, he has produced documentary films and television feature stories. He also serves as Director of SIMEC Foundation, Bangladesh, where he leads research, education, and community-engagement initiatives.