NAMI Island in the middle of the Han River used to be a barren area that was formed during the construction of the Cheongpyeong Dam starting in 1944. It is named after a historical figure of the Joseon Dynasty in the 15th century, General Nami, whose remains are believed to be buried on a hill in this top Korean tourist destination.

In 1965, Nami Island was purchased by tourism developer Sujae Minn Byeongdo, who turned the wasteland into a forest and eventually into a hub for art and culture. But it was only in 2002 when the world came to know about this 400,000-square-meter island after the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) filmed its pioneering K-drama series titled "Winter Sonata" here.

The KBS television show became a huge commercial hit in Japan and spread to other countries, giving rise to the so-called Hallyu, or Korean Wave. Much credit is attributed to "Winter Sonata" in building a solid cornerstone for the global popularity of other K-dramas that followed as well as the musical phenomenon known as K-pop, a subculture that has amassed enormous fandom among teenagers and young adults worldwide.

Hallyu had its origins in the late 1990s, when then-South Korean president Kim Dae-jung saw it as a way out of the Asian financial crisis that was wreaking havoc on his country's economy. He focused on Hallyu as the main source of economic growth by making it a state policy to support K-dramas and K-pop — thus using "soft power" to promote Korean identity in the international arena.

Successive administrations after Kim got directly involved in the promotion of Korean culture across Asia, North America, Europe and South America. In 2009, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism created the Korea Creative Content Agency (Kocca) to transform the country into a major player in the global content industry.

Today, Kocca has offices in Los Angeles, Beijing, Shenzhen, Tokyo, Paris, Jakarta, Hanoi and Dubai. It covers a wide range of creative industries, including gaming, animation, fashion, broadcasting, music, and even character licensing.

There have been several collaborations between the Philippines and South Korea in the Hallyu era, such as GMA Network's tele-seryes "My Korean Jagiya" in 2017 and "Start-Up PH" in 2022. The latest collab is in the field of digital filmmaking with Filipino and Korean actors starring in an upcoming joint movie production titled "The Guardian."

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Korea's cultural content industry has a global market share of 2.6 percent as of 2021 — generating $114 billion in sales, $10.3 billion in exports, and 680,000 jobs.

Based on a study by think tank Hyundai Research Institute, the most popular K-pop band BTS contributes an estimated $5 billion annually to the Korean economy. It translates to around 0.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), and that's just the so-called "BTS effect" fueling tourism to South Korea, study of the Korean language, and interest in other aspects of their culture.

Combine that with the rest of the Hallyu Wave, and one could imagine how K-pop and K-dramas have become a global economic force while at the same time boosting South Korea's GDP.

And to think it all began 55 kilometers northeast of Seoul at enchanting Nami Island, where "Winter Sonata" paved the way for other Korean soap operas to capture the world's imagination. These K-dramas have evolved into Netflix blockbusters such as "Crash Landing on You" and "Vincenzo," which entertained us during the early days of the pandemic when we were all locked down at home.

The author is the chief finance officer of Asian Center for Legal Excellence and vice chairman of the Finex ethics committee. The opinion expressed herein does not necessarily reflect the views of these institutions and The Manila Times. #FinexPhils www.finex.org.ph