00:00 This section explores how the South Korean government's deliberate investment in soft power has transformed global culture, particularly through the rise of K-pop and Korean beauty products.

06:37 The Korean War had a devastating impact on the Korean Peninsula, with the U.S. dropping more bombs on North Korea than in the entire Pacific Theater during World War II, resulting in widespread destruction and loss of life.

11:55 Korea was exposed to global media early on, with American soldiers bringing their own soft power through AFKN, the military broadcast station, and the Park Chung-hee era saw a development of a night culture with a huge inflow of foreign influence despite military restrictions.

18:01 South Korea's road to prosperity and self-sufficiency came at a high cost, with investments in low-level industries, the Vietnam War bringing in billions to the economy, and the quickened pace of development in heavy chemicals, shipbuilding, and steel mills.

23:00 The assassination of Park Chung-hee in 1979 sparked a pro-democracy movement in South Korea, with citizens taking to the streets to demand change, particularly in areas that had been left out of the country's rapid economic development, such as Gwangju, leading to the violent suppression of the Gwangju massacre by the military under Cheon Do-hwan's orders, solidifying his leadership and prompting him to promote distractions like sports, screen, and sex to divert attention from political unrest, while the Korean wave was starting to swell and the country's business ventures were booming.

27:40 After the financial crisis in 1997, South Korea turned to the IMF for a bailout, which led to feelings of national humiliation and a sense of being colonized, but the country managed to pay off its debts in four years and underwent economic changes, including a shift to a free market system, which resulted in job losses and a loss of social welfare, prompting a new president, Kim Dae-jong, to harness the popularity of Korean cultural industries and establish the government as an entrepreneurial state to promote soft power and cultural influence globally.

32:53 The investment in Korean k-drama, movies, music, beauty products, and food began to pay off in South Korea and beyond, leading to a shift in American media's perception of Korea and the rise of intense fandoms for Korean pop culture.

38:16 The rise of intense fandoms for Korean pop culture led to the interest in Korean beauty, resulting in the establishment of South Korea's medical tourism industry and the concentration of plastic surgery clinics in Gangnam, the richest neighborhood in South Korea.

42:57 Korean cultural exports, like movies and music, have generated $13 billion in 2022, marking a shift in power and competition with the US, leading to a push and pull between the two cultures.

47:54 Korean society and history have complex and controversial aspects, including trauma, destruction, and suffering, but there is a sense of shared prosperity and pride in the country's cultural success.