The Korea Times close
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
Entertainment
& Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
Sports
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
Video
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • Site Map
  • E-paper
  • Subscribe
  • Register
  • LogIn
search close
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • Site Map
  • E-paper
  • Subscribe
  • Register
  • LogIn
search close
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
Sat, May 21, 2022 | 09:19
K-pop
89,000,000 'hallyu' fans worldwide
Posted : 2019-01-11 16:47
Updated : 2019-01-12 18:56
Print Preview
Font Size Up
Font Size Down
Japanese fans cheer during MAMA in Japan, the global Korean pop music awards ceremony, held at Saitama Japan Saitama Super Arena in this Dec. 12 file photo. Courtesy of CJ ENM
Japanese fans cheer during MAMA in Japan, the global Korean pop music awards ceremony, held at Saitama Japan Saitama Super Arena in this Dec. 12 file photo. Courtesy of CJ ENM

By Kwak Yeon-soo

The number of global fans of "hallyu," or the Korean Wave, has exceeded 89 million in 113 countries, a government-affiliated foundation said Thursday.

The Korea Foundation's global hallyu data from 2018 revealed that there are an estimated 89.19 million fans of Korean culture around the world, a 22 percent increase from 2017's estimated 73.12 million fans.

The foundation said that last year's jump was largely in part due to the popularity of Korean boy group BTS.

BTS has risen to unprecedented stardom in the U.S., reigniting hallyu and toppling Asian stereotypes. The group topped the Billboard 200 albums chart last year and becoming the first Korean group to receive a Grammy nomination.

The increase in the number of fans also comes as a result of rising accessibility of various genres of Korean pop culture, including K-pop, K-beauty and K-food.

It also reported that there were 1,843 hallyu fan clubs in 113 countries worldwide, excluding Korea, as of December 2018.

The foundation said it regards organizations of global devotees of Korean singers, actors, culture and food, as well as taekwondo clubs and Korean culture societies at universities as hallyu fan clubs.

The largest number of K-pop fans live in Asia and Oceania (70.59 million members at 457 fan clubs), followed by the Americas (11.8 million members at 712 clubs), then Europe (6.57 million members at 534 clubs). Africa and the Middle East (230,000 members at 140 clubs) have the least reported fans.

In Japan, the number of hallyu fans tripled to exceed 300,000, while robust growth was still maintained in other parts of Asia.

Activities by hallyu fan clubs persisted in Europe and Latin America, while the number of hallyu fans grew steadily in Africa and the Middle East, according to the report.

It then proposed giving more policy considerations to female hallyu fans, as they have emerged as the main consumers of cosmetics, tourism and other fields, and predicted the figure to top 100 million in 2020.

Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, was a term coined in 1999 by China's Beijing Youth Daily meant to describe the growing popularity of Korean pop culture content. Korea's government has funded numerous hallyu entities to promote Korean culture, food, traditional arts and many others overseas.

The findings were based on a series of polls that were conducted around the world with the assistance of the Korean Foreign Ministry and embassies overseas.

The Korea Foundation is government-affiliated, and closely linked with the Korean Foreign Ministry. Since being founded in 1991, the goal of the Korean Foundation has been promoting Korean culture throughout the globe and building goodwill between Korea and the international community.


Emailyeons.kwak@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
  • Pro-, anti-Biden demonstrations to be held in front of Hyatt hotel
  • S-Oil CEO apologizes for deadly refinery explosion in Ulsan
  • Biden arrives in South Korea for first summit with Yoon
  • Samsung, LG expand into appliances with pet care features
  • South Korea-Japan relations in the shadow of Ukraine
  • Gov't extends mandatory quarantine for COVID-19 patients for 4 more weeks
  • Baseball, dogs: What Yoon, Biden have in common
  • Yoon, Biden to discuss Korea-US tech alliance in nuclear energy
  • South Korea's new COVID-19 cases drop for 3rd day
  • Summit could pave way for currency swap: analysts
  • Kim Sae-ron apologizes for her alleged DUI incident Kim Sae-ron apologizes for her alleged DUI incident
  • Reality shows raise concerns by zooming in on private lives of people Reality shows raise concerns by zooming in on private lives of people
  • TvN drama 'Rose Mansion' criticized for animal abuse scene TvN drama 'Rose Mansion' criticized for animal abuse scene
  • Former GFriend member Yerin makes solo debut with 'Aria' Former GFriend member Yerin makes solo debut with 'Aria'
  • 'The Roundup' off to record-setting start at box office 'The Roundup' off to record-setting start at box office
DARKROOM
  • People in North Korea trapped in famine and pandemic

    People in North Korea trapped in famine and pandemic

  • 2022 Pulitzer Prize: Bearing witness to history

    2022 Pulitzer Prize: Bearing witness to history

  • Worsening drought puts millions at risk

    Worsening drought puts millions at risk

  • Our children deserve the best

    Our children deserve the best

  • End of mask mandates

    End of mask mandates

The Korea Times
CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Location
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Service
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • Mobile Service
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Policy
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • 고충처리인
  • Youth Protection Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group