K-pop and K-dramas have spread beyond their home nation and into the rest of the world. Many passive consumers of Korean media have turned into active admirers without even recognizing it.
“I don’t really know [K-pop and K-dramas], so my opinion is very neutral,” Julianna Lynch, a GHC student, said, adding, “I did [see ‘Squid Game’] and I really loved it.”
In the first month after its debut, “Squid Game” had the most viewership on Netflix, with 1.65 billion hours of viewing. Even if they had intended to watch a classic thriller, the show introduced many people to the world of K-drama.
Similarly, not everyone who heard BTS’s Billboard No. 1 hits “Butter” or “Dynamite” recognized they were a K-pop group.
“‘Dynamite’ took me a long time to get out of my brain, but it’s a great song.” “I enjoy listening to BTS every now and again because they are so full of life,” Jannet Rodriguez remarked.
With performances of their tunes on American talk shows including “The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon” and “The Late Late Show with James Cordon,” the band began breaking into the Western media. They’ve also worked with well-known western musicians including Halsey, Jason Derulo, Nicki Minaj, and Megan the Stallion.
The K-pop group’s achievements led to a Grammy nomination for pop group/duo performance in 2021, followed by a second nomination in 2022. At the most recent American Music Awards, BTS was named Artist of the Year.
BTS sold 260,000 tickets in four hours for a show in Las Vegas, the epicentre of Western culture, two weeks ago. The band also talked and played before the United Nations in 2018 and 2021, demonstrating their worldwide dominance.
Korean films have become more well-known, in addition to the success of Korean media in the television and music sectors. “Parasite,” a Korean thriller about wealth imbalance that won six Oscars in 2020, including “Best Picture,” was a Korean thriller about wealth disparity that won six Oscars in 2020.
“Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” director Bong Joon-Ho said in his Oscar acceptance speech.
Joon-Ho proves his point as K-pop and K-dramas become more popular around the world. For many long-time admirers, this is a long-overdue acknowledgement of what they have already appreciated. She isn’t the only one who is pleased to see this development, as more people across the world are watching Korean material.
