I work for the American Government, as an American, lived in Korea, been to Japan several times, and I can definitely say Japan doesn't give a shit if the rest of the world knows about Japan.

Korea is obsessed with what other people think of it. Other people don't think of it. Korea doesn't exist outside of Korea except for North Korea. I'm sorry for everyone who gets upset by this revelation but Korea is known for producing phones and cars. Other than that, it's an irrelevant nation that has zero impact on what goes on in the world except for a hallow threat of war with a spouse they broke up with six decades ago and they still can't accept.

Korea is not a big deal and you pop culture exports do not exist. That whole gangnam style video was satirical and funny but that was it. It was the number one video on YouTube because of repeat viewings by Koreans. Remember when Rain was the Time magazine person of the year? Crowd sourced voting. Same thing. A niche market exists for KPop. A very niche market.

Japan has Hello Kitty, Mario, Playstation. You can compete with that kind of pop culture saturation. They are on par with Mickey Mouse.

Korea is a petty nation in the eyes of other governments - particularly Japan, America and Australia. Read up on why the next generation fighter jets purchased from America will be served in Australia instead of Japan. And that's only the most recent example.

I was in Incheon recently and saw the banner saying it won best airport to the years running. It's a fucking airport. And that thing about best subway in the world? Of course it's more organized - it had the benefit of central planning whereas other parts of the world, theirs rose up organically ad cities grew. And let's not start on the fucking Dokdo videos in the subway on your way into the city.

Insecure much?