Developing "soft power" through entertainment culture

In the context of a world with many complex changes, “ culture must go one step ahead, light the way, lead, foster courage, strengthen trust, and form national soft capacity ”, as General Secretary To Lam advised at the 80th Anniversary of the Cultural Sector’s Tradition Day. And we have enough favorable conditions to do that, from the policy launch pad as well as the determination of managers.

In May 1994, South Korean President Kim Young Sam was stunned when he read a report from the entertainment advisory council. Accordingly, the revenue from the movie " Jurassic Park " (1993) was equivalent to the amount of money earned from exporting ... 1.5 million Hyundai cars. The total number of Hyundai cars and other Korean car brands exported in 1993 was 640,000, meaning that the Hollywood movie brought in more than double the revenue of an industry that was the pride of Korea.

The report convinced Mr. Kim and South Korean officials to invest in and promote the entertainment industry as a national strategy. Three decades later, Korean culture is everywhere around the world, thanks to the influence of the Hallyu wave of the late 1990s and the K-pop music industry.

Statistics on the value of Korea's cultural exports (unit: billion USD). Data source: Bank of Korea

According to the IMF's " Soft Power Assessment " report published in October 2024, South Korea has risen to the top of the soft power rankings of countries, surpassing familiar names such as Japan, China or the US.

A person who has never been to Korea can recite famous landmarks in Seoul, understand the local words, support K-pop idols, and eat fried chicken, jajangmyeon… on the weekends. That is the result of “soft power” and shows how much a country can benefit when used properly.

Performance of "Phu Dong Thien Vuong" by singer Duc Phuc

The value of soft power

The phrase “Soft Power” was popularized by Harvard scholar Joseph Nye in the late 1980s. According to Nye, soft power is “ the ability to attract and persuade others without coercion ” . Of the three pillars of soft power including “Culture”, “Political Values” and “Policy”, “Culture” is the foundation and soul of every nation and is the easiest to create connection and natural attraction.

It is no coincidence that cultural powers such as the US, South Korea, China, Japan or India all consider the Film and Music industry as a strategic spearhead in their soft foreign policy. These arts are the most effective tools for a country to tell its story, convey its message with images, sounds and nuances, and are increasingly accessible and integrated in the digital age.

In Vietnam, soft power can be clearly identified through artistic products with profound social influence in recent times. From the major celebrations of the country's 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South, National Reunification (A50) and the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (A80), the cultural life of the audience has become richer with modern Red music songs carrying messages praising the country and people of Vietnam such as " Writing the continuation of the story of peace ", " What is more beautiful " ... creating a fever on music charts and social networks, even reaching the top trending on Youtube in many markets outside of Vietnam. The concert " Fatherland in the heart " attracted more than 50,000 spectators present directly at My Dinh Stadium and created a positive ripple effect that lasted for many weeks afterward on digital platforms. The concert film "The Homeland in My Heart: The Concert Film" continues to take theaters by storm, creating endless inspiration for young people on social media platforms.

Young people are enthusiastic in the concert screenings of the film "Fatherland in the Heart"

On September 21, singer Duc Phuc continued to bring pride to the Vietnamese audience when he surpassed contestants from 21 other countries to win the Intervision international music award held in Russia. The winning song " Phu Dong Thien Vuong" is imbued with the spirit of his homeland when it was composed by musician Ho Hoai Anh based on inspiration from the poem "Vietnamese Bamboo" by author Nguyen Duy and the legend " Thanh Giong" .

On the cinema front, in the list of 10 most popular films of Vietnamese cinema in 2025, there are three war-action films based on real historical events this year, including " Tunnel " (172 billion VND), " Air Battle " (246 billion VND) and " Red Rain " (714 billion VND). Among these, " Red Rain " is a rare combination of history - modern art - media power, creating a strong cultural effect and becoming the most popular film in Vietnamese history.

Film critic Le Hong Lam commented that the success of the above films comes from a new approach, creating appeal to the public: “ I think historical films, not only 50 years old but maybe several centuries old, can still conquer the current audience if they are well made and attractive in terms of enjoyment. Firstly, they have the advantage of the subject: often battles, events of historical significance, which are the pride of the nation. Secondly, they easily stimulate emotions and national pride for contemporary audiences. Asia has had resounding successes: 'The Great Water Battle', 'The Fluttering Flag'... are all in the top of the best-selling Korean films of all time or 'The Battle of Changjin Lake' of China ”.

The success of “ Red Rain ” is not limited to the film industry or the dominance of the song inspired by the film “ What is more beautiful ” on the music charts. The publishing industry is also happy when the number of orders for the original work “ Red Rain ” by writer Chu Lai increased dramatically, creating a phenomenon that has not happened for a long time for a domestic book: the demand for orders far exceeds the speed of the printing house.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tuan Binh - owner of the Facebook page "Binh Ban Book" specializing in online book sales, the number of customers ordering the book " Red Rain " has reached more than 7,000 - dozens of times more than the usual best-selling books. In addition to the paperback version, the publisher also released a hardcover version to thank readers with 2,000 limited copies and a higher price than the regular version but still sold out. Not only " Red Rain " created a fever, books related to Quang Tri Citadel such as " Quang Tri Memories " and " Citadel's Last Letters " also received great attention from readers.

A series of quality, well-invested music programs have brought a breath of fresh air, not only enriching the spiritual life of the domestic public but also creating a buzz in the international arena.
Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Hoai Son, full-time member of the Committee on Culture and Society

That is the pinnacle of soft power, as Joseph Nye once concluded: “ The best propaganda is not propaganda ”. A segment of the audience - including many young people - who used to have prejudices that Vietnamese cinema or Red music is “difficult to feel”, “dry”... now lines up to buy tickets to enjoy, write and share feelings on personal pages and actively read and research about the country's history. When the echoes of a work do not stop at personal emotions but arouse national pride, urge the need to learn history, create inspiration to learn..., that is a vivid manifestation of endogenous soft power that is gradually forming and spreading in society.

If soft power is to spread to the world, it must first take root in the hearts of its own people. If the young generation no longer reads, watches, listens to, or feels proud of the cultural symbols of their own country, no promotional campaign will be able to “export” cultural identity.

The successes and spread of Vietnamese culture in the past year are special successes, but still need more attention and investment from authorities, creative artistic development from artists and response from audiences... so that Vietnamese soft power can develop sustainably, instead of being a temporary phenomenon.

The Concert Film is among the top grossing films at the box office in October 2025.

Cast of the movie Red Rain

Culture forms national soft capacity

On August 23, at the ceremony to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Cultural Sector's Traditional Day (August 28, 1945 - August 28, 2025) and receive the First Class Labor Medal organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, General Secretary To Lam gave a valuable speech on Culture. According to the General Secretary, " in peace, construction, development and innovation, culture is still the vanguard force on the ideological and spiritual front " and affirmed that in the context of the country entering a new era and the world having many complex changes, " culture must go one step ahead, light the way, lead, foster courage, strengthen trust, and form national soft capacity ".

The General Secretary directed “ Developing the cultural industry and creative economy to become a new pillar of growth ” and wished that “ every literary and artistic work, every tournament, every tourism product, every cultural space is an “ambassador” of truth, goodness and beauty in Vietnam ”.

The General Secretary advised: “ The 80-year tradition is a spiritual treasure, but tradition only truly shines when we continue to write new pages of history .” This is absolutely true if we look at how Asian countries deploy soft power in the language of the new era. Not only Japan with anime, manga, cinema, J-Pop or Korea with K-drama, K-Pop music..., soft power can be expressed in many forms in the digital age but still retain its own cultural features.

“ The 80-year tradition is a spiritual treasure, but tradition only truly shines when we continue to write new pages of history .”
General Secretary To Lam

A recent example is the video game phenomenon “ Black Myth Wukong ” (Black Myth Wukong) by Chinese game developer Game Science. The game is inspired by “Journey to the West” - one of the Four Great Classics of Chinese literature and was released in the third quarter of 2024. “ Black Myth Wukong ” quickly became a global gaming phenomenon with more than 20 million copies sold on multiple platforms and brought in $1.1 billion in revenue.

After experiencing the game, many Western gamers said they searched for the original novel and watched the TV series “ Journey to the West ” (1986) to better understand the story. More specifically, localities with many locations simulated in the game recorded a sharp increase in the number of tourists after “ Black Myth Wukong ” was released. Many tourist sites recorded a three-fold increase in ticket sales in a short time.

The above success shows the way for soft power to spread globally in the digital age. It is the perfect combination of classic storylines, history, and the original culture of that nation with modern entertainment technology. Like the victory of the song “ Phu Dong Thien Vuong ” by Duc Phuc at Intervision 2025: lyrics inspired by national culture performed on stage with many lighting effects, modern choreography and rap combination to easily create a spread.

That is also what the successful state-cooperated films of 2025 did, according to the perspective of critic Le Hong Lam: “ The return of three films in the historical/political film genre - which has been in decline and declining for the past two decades - to the center of cinema is thanks to the change in the way contemporary directors tell stories. They have overcome the worn-out stereotypes or outdated narratives, approaching contemporary audiences with the storytelling form of international entertainment films: large settings, elaborate investment, modern sets and actors with a focus on appearance to increase the entertainment factor ”.

Vietnam possesses many favorable factors to develop soft power: a long history, rich cultural heritage, diverse cuisine, hospitable people, along with values such as humanity, resilience, solidarity... which have been affirmed through the stages of national construction and defense.

However, to transform those values into "spreading power" still requires the cooperation of the entire social system: from high-level policies, strategic orientations to the participation of cultural and artistic creators, businesses and public support.

In the “ Global Soft Power Index 2025 ” ranking conducted by Brand Finance, Vietnam ranked 52nd, up one place from the 2024 ranking. This is a position with much room for improvement. More important than the position is the upward trend, reflecting the change in awareness and investment in national culture, arts, and media. The positive social effects of culture and arts in the past year show that when given the opportunity, Vietnamese values can spread strongly and touch the hearts of the public, even beyond borders.

If we continue on the right track, with the synchronous participation from policy to content creation and communication strategy, Vietnam can absolutely go further. Because soft power is not a short-distance race, but a long journey that requires perseverance and determination. Remember, from the day the report on Hollywood movie revenue made Korea determined to build a strong entertainment industry until “Parasite” won the Oscar for Best Picture, it was 27 years, not an instant recognition.