Unravelling the key topics of Hallyu: a cultural branding perspective from South Korea

This study explores Hallyu and the global spread of Korean culture through the lens of cultural branding using a strategic and multi-layered approach. We conducted a systematic literature review to extract topics at the intersection of cultural branding and Hallyu and employed Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modelling to identify contemporary trends and thematic structures to suggest theoretical positions. We identified six topics that bridge the theoretical and practical aspects of Hallyu in cultural branding. These findings highlight Hallyu’s role in integrating global communities and cultural values through universalism, providing a foundation for future cross-disciplinary research on cultural management and implications.