Seoul power - hitched to Gangnam culture President Barack Obama has talked about it. Madonna and Ai Weiwei, among many others, have danced to it. That would be the K-wave, or the overseas export of Korean culture. This was the year that rapper Psy made the world aware, Gangnam style, of a long-running Asian phenomenon. According to a survey, those who like K-Pop were more disposed to try other Korean products. It is no surprise then that Seoul convened a panel this year to see how to keep surfing the wave. Exports of South Korean music, TV and film doubled to about Won500bn ($465m) between 2000 and 2011, according to Daiwa Capital Markets. TV drama began the wave in the late 1990s but music is the driving force now. Music companies" shares, however, have not exactly kept pace. SM Entertainment, a K-Pop factory, is roughly flat over the year after a slump following disappointing third-quarter profits which it put down to heavy spending promoting the return of TVXQ, a boyband. Rival YG Entertainment is still up two-fifths on a year ago, but then it has Psy on its roster. Other parts of the K-wave have stronger prospects, such as cosmetics. Chinese sales of AmorePacific, the South Korean cosmetics giant, rose by a third last year, three times the rate of growth for its Korean base. Cultural waves are not easy for investors to surf. But one as commercial as the K-wave produces a clear route: follow the endorsement deals. These can have real power across Asia, even if investors are unlikely to want Hyundai's car-themed K-Pop album or Samsung's Zipel refrigerator as promoted by Psy. AmorePacific is no slouch either in using home-grown actors and singers to promote its products. So best stop practising Psy's silly horse dance and start following the likes of 2NE1, Girls Generation, SHINee and Super Junior, and their market-savvy business managers.