This thesis undertakes an explanatory case study of the Korean cultural industries policy shift recently instituted under the Kim Dae-Jung and Roh Moo-Hyun governments (1998-2008). This shift can be well positioned within the broader context of the creative turn in national cultural policy around the world, which was initiated by the British New Labour governments (1997-2010). Indeed, the trend ‘has had a remarkable take-up across many parts of the world’, elevating the British discourse on creativity into a policy ‘doctrine’ or ‘credo’ not only in the UK, but also across the globe. Despite the similarities in the driving discourses and policy methods, this thesis argues that the Korean policy shift was significantly different from its British counterpart as a result of the differing pace and trajectories of industrialization in the two countries. Starting from the concept of the East Asian developmental state as an entry point, this thesis explores three major questions: How and why did Korea go through a cultural industries policy shift in the period following the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis? Has the shift produced a policy framework which is different from that of the previous developmental state, and if so, what is its form? What results have the policy shift and framework brought about in the Korean cultural industries sector, and how were they achieved? By addressing the process, product and performance of the policy shift in this way, this thesis presents a distinctive description and analysis of the way the cultural and creative industries (CI) have been nurtured in the era of ‘post-organized capitalism’. As a former representative developmental state and as a neo-developmental state currently known for having made a clear break with the past, the Korean case can provide a unique opportunity to re-think the recently fashionable creative turn among various nations. Given its position in the global economic hierarchy as either a high-end developing country or a low-end developed country, the story of Korea’s fundamental CI policy shift can furnish something of interest and academic value to both these groups.