Creative Cluster Evolution: The Case of the Film and TV Industries in Seoul, South Korea

Abstract

Can the concept of co-evolution help to analyse and explain the dynamics of creative industries? This article tackles the question by investigating the film and TV cluster in Seoul, South Korea. The analysis of the 35 semi-structured interviews confirms the dynamics of the film and TV industries in Korea. First, Hallyu began with the export of Korean TV drama series across East Asia. The state deregulation and neo-liberal reforms during the 1990s in Korea boosted an explosion of the export of the Korean film and TV industry. Second, the core of the film and TV production is concentrated within Seoul, while dispersion of those industries occurred in Gyeong-gi province. Third, from an institutional perspective, tensions between the central government and the film and TV industry can be observed, which have been intensifying since 2006. This paper concludes that particularly co-evolution could potentially be an important concept to explain and analyse dynamics in creative industries.

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper has been presented at the Regional Studies Association European Conference, Tampere, 2013. I have benefited from the useful comments made by the participants of this event and particularly by three anonymous reviewers. I would like to thank the interviewees for sparing their time. The usual disclaimer applies, however.

Funding

This research was supported by the European Science Foundation and the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the framework of the Cluster Life Cycles Project.

Notes

1. However, not all interviews are cited in this article owing to repetitions of the contents and to the limits of space.

2. There are also Korea Broadcasting Agency and Film Academy, however, they have little influence on the film and TV industry due to their weak financial capacity and instable policies.