AI-Mediated Visual Narratives and the Construction of South Korea's Cultural Identity in K-pop Music Videos
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18326/inject.v11i1.5818Keywords:
Visual Narratives, AI-Mediated Communication, Hybrid Identity, Representation, Digital CultureAbstract
This study examines how artificial intelligence (AI) mediated visual narratives in aespa’s music videos construct and circulate South Korean cultural identity within the global digital sphere. Grounded in Stuart Hall’s theory of representation, the research adopts an interpretive qualitative approach using an intrinsic case study design. Two official music videos, Next Level (2021) and Savage (2021), are analyzed as cultural texts rather than entertainment products. Through systematic visual analysis, the study investigates how AI-driven aesthetics such as digital avatars, metaverse environments, glitch effects, and posthuman imagery interact with traditional Korean cultural symbols, including hanbok-inspired costumes, mythological references, architectural motifs, choreography, and linguistic hybridity (Konglish). The findings reveal that AI functions not as a neutral production tool but as a representational system that actively articulates meaning. By strategically combining tradition and futurism, aespa’s visual narratives produce a hybrid form of “Koreanness” that is simultaneously locally rooted and globally legible. This hybrid identity is encoded by the entertainment industry through AI-mediated visuals and decoded by global audiences within digital platforms, enabling the effective circulation of South Korean cultural identity without erasing cultural specificity. The study contributes to digital cultural studies by demonstrating that AI operates as a cultural agent within popular media, shaping how national identity is negotiated, commodified, and reimagined in contemporary global culture.
References
Ahn, D., Park, S., Lee, S., Cho, J., & Lim, H. (2025, April 26). I Stan Alien Idols and Also the People behind Them: Understanding How Seams between Virtual and Real Identities Engage VTuber Fans - A Case Study of PLAVE. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3714218
Anwar, M. S., Yang, J., Frnda, J., Choi, A., Baghaei, N., & Ali, M. (2025). Metaverse and XR for cultural heritage education: applications, standards, architecture, and technological insights for enhanced immersive experience. Virtual Reality, 29(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-025-01126
Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. University of Minnesota Press.
Bae, S., Jung, T., Cho, J., & Kwon, O. (2025). Effects of meta-human characteristics on user acceptance: from the perspective of uncanny valley theory. Behaviour and Information Technology, 44(4), 731–748. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2024.2338408
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2018). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (5th ed.). Sage Publications.
Freund, L. (2025). Beyond the physical self: understanding the perversion of reality and the desire for digital transcendence via digital avatars in the context of Baudrillard’s theory. AI and Society, 40(2), 859–875. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-01900-8
Ghvinjilia, G. (2025). The evolution of music and mumusicians’iews on ethical dilemmas related to transhumanistic music. Rast Muzikoloji Dergisi, 13(2), 201–237. https://doi.org/10.12975/rastmd.20251326
Gutierrez-Jauregi, A., Aramendia-Muneta, M. E., & Gómez-Cámara, I. (2025). Harmony in diversity: unraveling the global impact of K-Pop through social media and fandom dynamics. Media Asia. https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2025.2480451
Hall Stuart. (1997). REPRESENTAT’ION Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices.
Hwang, H. J. (2024). Finding the Context of “Han”, the Core Sentiment of Salpurichum. Religions, 15(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080890
Iwabuchi, K. (2015). Pop-culture diplomacy in Japan and East Asia: Soft power, nation branding, and the question of international cultural exchange. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 21(4), 419–432. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2015.1042469
Jamie Shinhee Lee. (2004). Linguistic hybridization in K-Pop: Discourse of self-assertion and resistance. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0883-2919.2004.00367.x
Jeong, M., & Kim, S. (2023). What makes “aespa”, the first metaverse girl group in the K-pop universe, succeed in the global entertainment industry?
Jin, D. Y., & Ryoo, W. (2014). Critical interpretation of hybrid K-pop: The global-local paradigm of english mixing in lyrics. Popular Music and Society, 37(2), 113–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2012.731721
Jin, D. Y. (2016). New Korean wave: Transnational cultural power in the age of social media. University of Illinois Press.
Jin, D. Y. (2024). AI in cultural production in the Korean cultural industries. Telematics and Informatics Reports, 13, 100113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teler.2023.100113
Jin, D. Y., & Ryoo, W. (2014). Critical interpretation of hybrid K-pop: The global–local paradigm of English mixing in lyrics. Popular Music and Society, 37(2), 113–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2012.731721
Keith, S. (2024). NEW TOYS, NEW APPS, NEW IDOLS: K-POP’S AI IMAGINARY. Brazilian Creative Industries Journal, 4(2), 13–40. https://doi.org/10.25112/bcij.v4i2.3835
Kiaer, Jieun., & Ahn, Hyejeong. (2024). Emergence of Korean English : how Korea’s dynamic English is born. Routledge.
Kim, Y. (Erin), & Nicolau, J. L. (2025). Effect of popular culture on tourism firms’ market value: A destination brand equity perspective. Tourism Management, 107, 105060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2024.105060
Lee, Y. (2022). The white-clad people: The white hanbok and Korean nationalism. Cultural Dynamics, 34(4), 271–296. https://doi.org/10.1177/09213740221117811
Manovich, L. (2020). Cultural analytics. MIT Press.
Masset, J., & Decrop, A. (2024). ‘Tomorrowland’: identity construction and expression through flags and costumes in a music festival. Leisure Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2024.2353589
Natalia Sriwahyuni, D., & Amallia Hapsari, S. (2023). Aespa’s Virtual Member Existence in the SMCU Episode 1 “Black Mamba” Short Movie. https://youtu.be/vbH4Lk5wYWg
Oh, I. (2021). Globalization of K-pop: Korea’s place in the global music industry. Korea Observer, 52(3), 389–409.
Paek, Y., & Zoh, M. (2025). The Role of Heritage in the Context of Dictatorship, Then Democracy: South Korea’s Heritage Management Between 1961 and 1993. In Heritage and Society (Vol. 18, Issue 2, pp. 210–224). Taylor and Francis Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159032X.2025.2483149
Permatasari, S. S. (2022). “Kwangya” Platform A Study on the Business Model’s Innovation of SM’s Metaverse Brand, “Kwangya” Platform. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370952075
Rose, G. (2023). Visual methodologies: An introduction to researching with visual materials (5th ed.). Sage Publications.
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage Publications.
Smith, K. V. (2022). Transformations of Hanbok in the Age of Hallyu: Fashion, Cultural Hybridization, and the Construction of Vernacular Korean Hybridization, and the Construction of Vernacular Korean Nationalism. http://library.ucf.edu
SM Entertainment. (2021). Next Level [Music video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/
SM Entertainment. (2021). Savage [Music video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/
Tolerance Ca. (2024). Blurry, morphing and surreal – a new AI aesthetic is emerging in film . https://www.tolerance.ca/ArticleExt.aspx?ID=568644&L=en
Vania, C. (2021). The ‘Kwangya’ paradox: A study on K-pop fandom’s perceptions of authenticity.
Yoon, K. (2022). Between universes: Fan positionalities in the transnational circulation of K-pop. . Communication and the Public, 7(4), 188-201. https://doi.org/10.1177/20570473221136667 (Original work published 2022)
Yoon, K., & Labarta Garcia, C. A. (2024). Evolving yet contentious transcultural fanscapes: Peruvian fans’ accounts of K-pop and its fandoms. Media, Culture and Society, 46(8), 1674–1691. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437241270954
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 INJECT (Interdisciplinary Journal of Communication)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
