Cross-cultural Interpretation of Visual Symbols and Aesthetic Translation in K-pop MV from the Perspective of Multimodal AI

Abstract

The continuous evolution of digital intelligent technologies has profoundly transformed the creative logic and production models of film and television imagery, driving the entire visual culture industry toward digital transformation. As a core vehicle for South Korea's cultural export, K-pop music videos leverage a mature industrial production system and a youth-oriented visual style to amass vast audiences in overseas markets such as Europe, America, and Southeast Asia, thus possessing inherent advantages in cross-cultural communication. Drawing on multimodal discourse analysis and cross-cultural reception aesthetics, this paper examines the underlying mechanisms through which multimodal AI enables Korean visual aesthetics to overcome geographical dissemination barriers and successfully enter international markets, by analyzing recent popular K-pop MVs and their current global distribution. Multimodal AI can deconstruct, reassemble, and fine-tune visual elements within music videos, precisely aligning with aesthetic differences among regional audiences, effectively mitigating common aesthetic disparities and cognitive biases in cross-cultural communication, and facilitating the adaptation of traditional Korean aesthetics to the digital dissemination ecosystem. Compared to conventional, monolithic models of cultural export, AI-enhanced communication pathways address the limitations of poor adaptability and content homogenization in traditional approaches, offering viable theoretical support and practical insights for the global promotion of East Asian pop culture and innovation in digital visual aesthetics.