South Korea's Entertainment surge

"From clothes to hairstyles, music to television dramas, South Korea has been defining the tastes of many Chinese and other Asians for the past half decade. "
  –International Herald Tribune

    * South Korean soap operas and other dramas have become a popular export to other Asian countries, particularly China and Japan. Taiwan accounts for 24.5% of Korean programming exports, Japan at 19%, along with China at 18.6% and Hong Kong at 3.3%.
    * In China, young people today often sport clothes and hairstyles worn by Korean stars. In the first nine months of 2005, over half a million tourists took "Korean Wave" package tours, which took visitors to locations where Korean television shows have been filmed.
    * Increasingly, Korea is seen as a place for new technology and entertainment. At the end of 2005, South Korea enjoyed the highest broadband penetration of broadband in the world, with 26% of the population. By comparison, the U.S. only has 17% percent.
    * Korean 3G technology is also the highest in Asia, with 25% of the population using 3G mobile phone service, compared with only 18% of Japan and 9% of Hong Kong.

Source: Asia.com, Credit Suisse estimates, Gartner 2006, IDC, Nelison, International Herald Tribune, TimeASIA magazine, hollywoodreporter.com