Soft Power Asia

At Paris Fashion Week last October, eight of the top ten fashion influencers were Korean or Thai. The first Western celebrity appeared at number six. A twenty-three-year-old Thai actress with 2.4 million Instagram followers generated more than double the media value of Kylie Jenner — who has nearly 400 million. Meanwhile, BTS's V produced $274 million in value for Celine through Instagram posts al...

A concert announcement triggers a 5,000% hotel-search spike — before tickets are even on sale. A president sends a diplomatic letter requesting more shows. Another president intervenes to stop price gouging. Parliament passes new legislation. Netflix books a 630-year-old royal palace for a global livestream. And one investment bank projects a 550% profit surge — for the label, not the tour. All be...

Asia’s cultural industries aren’t emerging anymore — they’re dominant: The boy group BTS triggers a $3.8 billion economic ripple. A Korean eyewear brand builds art installations instead of stores — and Google bets $100 million on it. A Thai TV genre about queer romance turns into a billion-baht export industry. Korea overtakes France as the top cosmetics exporter to the US. More than half of Netfl...