In the 21st century, soft power has proved its effectiveness and expediency and has become one of the most important foreign policy instruments of strong, medium and small powers. The approach proposed by Joseph Nye is considered to be a classic example of soft power politics with the United States being the leading state in this field. However, considering the intensification of glocalization processes and the growth of anti-global and anti-American sentiments, the effectiveness of the US soft power is being called into question. On the contrary, the popularity of South Korean culture has been constantly growing all over the world in recent years, which proves the possibility of successful application of the soft power policy by a non-Western (Asian) state.Aim. The aim is to compare the South Korean and American approaches to the implementation of soft power policy.Tasks. The tasks include studying the elements of the US and South Korean soft power models (culture and way of life, values and ideologies, principles of foreign and domestic policy) and comparing them with each other.Methods. The methods of cross-cultural analysis and secondary analysis of data, including official sources, were used.Results. When implementing the soft power policy, both states use the same resources (elements) distinguished by Joseph Nye (culture and lifestyle, ideology and values, principles of domestic and foreign policy).Conclusion. The difference between national models of soft power lies in the content of these elements. The United States and the Republic of Korea convey different values and prioritize different elements of soft power. The United States, placing the main emphasis on ideology, promotes democratic values, while the Republic of Korea, relying on culture in the broadest sense, appeals to humanistic and Confucian values (love for oneself, caring for others, seeking harmony, cheerfulness). Directions for further research include the analysis of the origins and prospects of such a phenomenon of international relations as Asian waves (Japanese, Korean, Chinese, etc.).

Over the past ten years, Korean pop culture has gained enormous popularity around the world. The Boy Band BTS is one of the brightest representatives of this culture. The BTS fandom (ARMY) has about 90 million people around the world, most of which are teenagers and young people. Musical creativity and non-concert activities of the group broadcasted through social networks significantly affect BTS listeners’ perceptions of a wide range of issues, including those related to gender relations. Although there are a lot of research papers devoted to the phenomenon of BTS both in South Korea and abroad the gender aspects of this topic have not yet been studied. The purpose of the article is to analyze the gender representation contained in BTS songs and the nature of gender perception by BTS fans in the process of network communication between the boy band and the fans. The method of qualitative analysis of documents (lyrics of songs) was used and an analysis of a case related to a discussion on the network about one of the songs of BTS, which users rated as misogynistic, was carried out. Research results. Social networks are the key channel for interaction between BTS and their fans. Equally important, fans are not merely an object, but also a subject of communication, they play a huge role in the promotion of the group in the network space. In terms of gender representation, BTS songs can be subdivided into three groups: songs with a discriminatory presentation of gender relations, those with an egalitarian presentation, and songs that do not address gender representation. The third group makes up the absolute majority in the work of the boy band, since BTS focuses on universal problems that are equally important to both girls and boys. The discussion on the song “Joke” taken place in 2015–2016 showed that today fans have real means of controlling the content of the group’s songs and in order to maintain their popularity BTS songwriters need to avoid misogyny. Fans therefore are becoming a deterrent to the spread of discriminatory gender representation in the work of the group, strengthening the group’s positive influence on its fans, including in promoting gender equality. This applies not only to BTS, but to other K-pop groups as well.