Measuring Japanese Youth's Perception on K-Pop As An Alternative Peacebuilding Instrument Between Japan and South Korea

MICHELLE T A D, Muhammad Rum, S.I.P., I.M.A.S., Ph.D.

2021 | Skripsi | S1 ILMU HUBUNGAN INTERNASIONAL

Perkembangan dan kepopuleran K-Pop telah menarik perhatian dunia. Ternyata, kultur popular ini telah diadopsi menjadi Soft Power resmi Korea Selatan dan telah menjadi salah satu bentuk Soft Power yang paling sukses. Disaat yang bersamaan, penyebaran K-Pop sudah mencapai negara tetangga, termasuk Jepang. Kedatangan K-Pop di Jepang telah, sampai batas tertentu, telah mengurangi ketegangan antara kedua negara, meskipun hubungan antar kedua negara ini masih waspada akan satu sama lain. Dengan pemikiran tersebut, tesis ini kemudian mengajukan gagasan bahwa K-Pop dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai instrument binadamai alternative dalam mengubah persepsi pemuda Jepang terhadap Korea Selatan. Melalui survey, tesis ini mengkaji remaja Jepang dan persepsi mereka tentang Korea Selatan sebelum dan sesudah diekspos dengan adanya K-Pop. Tesis ini juga mengkaji dampak fandom K-Pop Jepang dan pengaruhnya terhadap gerakan anti-Korea di Jepang. Yang pada akhirnya, menjadikan keberadaan K-Pop sebagai instrument perdamaian alternative dalam memperbaiki hubungan antara Jepang dan Korea Selatan.

The flourishment of K-Pop has garnered the attention of the world. As it turns out, this popular culture has been adopted as South Korea's official soft power and became one of its most successful forms of soft power. Meanwhile, the massive spread of K-Pop has reached its neighboring countries, including Japan. The arrival of K-Pop in Japan has, to some extent, released some of the tension between the two countries, despite the diplomatic tension is still on alert with one another. With this in mind, this thesis then proposes the idea that K-Pop can be utilized as an alternative peacebuilding instrument in altering the perception of Japanese youth towards South Korea. Through survey, this thesis examines Japanese youth and their perception of South Korea before and after being in exposed with K-Pop. This thesis also examines the impact of the Japanese K-Pop fandom and its affects towards anti-Korean movement in Japan. Ultimately, leading to the existence of K-Pop being an alternative peacebuilding instrument in mending the relations between Japan and South Korea.

Kata Kunci : Pop Culture, K-Pop, Peacebuilding, Soft Power, Japan, South Korea