K-pop remains leading 'hallyu' force, K-food gains traction: culture ministry report

Music strong in Asia, Europe, while cuisine thrives in North America

By Lee Gyu-lee

BTS, BLACKPINK and NewJeans are setting social media ablaze in the K-pop scene, while kimchi, "mukbang" (eating shows where the hosts consume large quantities of food) and Buldak Ramen are leading the global conversation on Korean cuisine.

These developments reflect the ever-expanding influence of "hallyu," or the Korean wave, with K-pop continuing to dominate Asia, Europe and South America, while Korean food is gaining popularity across North America, Africa and Oceania, according to a new government report.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korea Culture Information Service Agency (KCISA) released the 2024 Global Korean Wave Trend Analysis Report on Tuesday. The report gathered about 680,000 Korean wave-related materials from foreign media articles and social media, covering the period from October 2023 to September 2024.

Conducted in collaboration with MCST’s 35 Korean Cultural Centers in 30 countries worldwide, the analysis is based on 7,640 articles from over 470 foreign media outlets and 675,762 posts from social media platforms like YouTube and X, formerly Twitter.

The report showed that Korean wave-related articles were written most frequently in Asia at 50.6 percent, followed by Europe at 27.5 percent and North America at 13.6 percent.

By country, India, the United States, Thailand and Turkey had the highest Korean wave-related coverage. K-pop reports took up the highest proportion in India, Thailand and the Philippines, while K-food had a high frequency in Nigeria, the U.S. and Britain. K-dramas were widely reported on in Turkey thanks to "Bahar," a Turkish remake of the 2023 JTBC drama "Doctor Cha," while K-movies were covered extensively in China.

The top keywords for K-pop from articles and social media were "BTS," "BLACKPINK," "NewJeans" and BTS members "Jung Kook" and "Jin," whereas for K-food, terms such as "kimchi," "soju," "chicken," "bibimbap" and "Buldak Ramen" led the list. Keywords for K-movies were “Parasite" (2019) and “Exhuma” (2024), with director Bong Joon-ho and late actor Lee Sun-kyun popping up. The most popular keywords for K-dramas were “Squid Game,” "Queen of Tears" and "Doctor Cha."

During the fourth quarter of 2023, the military enlistment of the members of BTS was the most popular topic in K-pop coverage. In the first quarter of 2024, the news of K-pop stars' global tours made headlines. The controversy surrounding HYBE and Ador’s former CEO and NewJeans producer Min Hee-jin made waves in the second quarter, followed by BTS member Jin’s role as a torchbearer in the 2024 Paris Olympics in the third quarter.

While K-pop was the main focus across most continents, North America showed more of an interest in K-food.

Foreign media showed exceptionally high interest in kimchi, frequently reporting on its health benefits and the establishment of Kimchi Day on Nov. 22. Interestingly, mukbang was also consistently mentioned each quarter.

Korean films and dramas also received significant attention. In particular, K-content, including films and series such as "Exhuma," "Veteran 2" (2024), "The Roundup: Punishment" (2024), "Concrete Utopia" (2023) as well as "Squid Game" Season 2, "Queen of Tears" and "Lovely Runner" received attention across various continents.

Chae Su-hee, director of the Global Public Relations Bureau at MCST, emphasized the importance of compiling extensive hallyu-related big data and the ministry's capabilities of global media content analysis.

"We will strive to provide various analysis materials in a timely manner that can contribute to the establishment of customized Korean wave policy strategies and business strategies by country and by continent," Chae said.