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Culture

The Influence of the

K-pop Wave

20408 Kim, Eun-ji

Recently, Korean singers, such as BTS and Blackpink, have
made their names on the U.S. Billboard chart, and the Korean
Wave is blowing around the world. In the past, the Korean
Wave centered on dramas and actors, but it has now expanded
to various fields, including movies, beauty, and the K-medical
service.
Elite School Uniform, a school uniform brand, asked 291
elementary, middle, and high school teens about their
perception of the Korean Wave and the status of overseas
content consumption from September 22nd to October 5th.
As a result, about 33 percent of the respondents picked K-pop
as representing the Korean Wave. More than 50 percent of
respondents said it helps improve national awareness and
image.
In particular, four out of every ten students spend at least one
day of the week consuming overseas content, watching mostly
foreign movies and broadcast programs. In addition, three out
of ten teenagers said K-pop represented the Korean Wave,
followed by dramas and entertainment (24%), movies (12%),
beauty (12%), and products (11%).

As for the positive effects of the Korean Wave, 58 percent
of the respondents cited “improving national awareness and
image” as being most important. In addition, many foreign
regions are showing tremendous interest in Korea. Taking
advantage of the influence of the Korean Wave, the Ministry of
Culture, Sports and Tourism (headed by Park Yang-woo), the
Hanbok Promotion Center of the Korea Craft & Design Culture
Promotion Agency, and the International Exchange Promotion
Agency will promote the spread of Korean Wave contents
through the 2020 Korean Wave Industry Collaborative Content
Planning and Development (CAST) project.
This project, involving a large number of influential cultural
artists representing the current Korean Wave culture, including
Chungha, MBKU's Dance Company, Momoland, Golden Child,
and KARD, is characterized by Hallyu stars' wide participation in

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