How Much Do You Really Know About K-pop? Understanding Its Identity

What exactly is K-pop? Are you certain you understand what defines it? This talk uncovers the true identity of K-pop and proposes more effective ways to analyze its emergence and global appeal. The speaker, Prof. Jimmyn Parc, has just published a book, “The Identity and Emergence of K-pop” (2025, Bloomsbury) and is currently a Visiting Scholar at the ANU Korea Institute.

Jimmyn Parc is an associate professor at the University of Malaya, Malaysia and a research associate at the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) in Belgium. Prior to joining the University of Malaya, he was a visiting lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, France. He received a Ph.D. in international studies (with focus on international business and strategy) from the Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS), Seoul National University, Korea and another in economic history from the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV), France. He has published numerous academic articles and conducted several research projects related to the competitiveness of organizations, industries, and countries. His current research focuses on the cultural industries of Asia and Europe, which includes films, dramas, and music, and their evolution in the midst of a changing business and trade environment as well as new challenges in the form of digitization. Professor Parc is also the co-author of The Untold Story of the Korean Film Industry: A Global Business and Economic Perspective, which was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2021.

Dinner will be provided half-hour before event