By Lee Hyo-sik
Foreign fans of hallyu, or the Korean Wave, picked K-pop group Super Junior as the hallyu star they would most like to travel with in Korea, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) said Monday.
KTO conducted an online survey through a VisitKorea website (www.visitkorea.or.kr) set up to promote Korean tourism among non-Koreans from May 11 through May 31. A total of 12,085 people from 102 different countries took the survey and gave answers in seven categories.
When asked about which hallyu star they would like to travel with in Korea, K-pop group Super Junior was first among 30 hallyu stars, followed by Big Bang and JYJ.
The boy band received votes not only from fans in China and other Asian countries, but also from those in Europe, KTO said.
``Reflecting a growing popularity of K-pop in France and other European countries in recent days, 2,158 people from 35 European nations took part in the survey,” a KTO official said.
Still, Asia is the largest fan base for Korean singers and other hallyu stars as Asians accounted for 77 percent of the survey respondents, the official said, adding that 9,253 people from 32 Asian countries took the survey. Nearly 90 percent of the respondents were women, while 84 percent were in their teens, 20s and 30s.
Hallyu fans in China, Southeast Asia and Europe favored K-pop over other genres.
But among Japanese fans, Korean drama and movies were more popular than K-pop. Bae-yong-joon, better known to the Japanese as ``Yon-Sama,’’ was picked as the most-favored travel companion among Japanese survey takers.
Many respondents said if they came to Korea, they would like to tour popular tourism destinations, engage in various cultural activities and attend hallyu stars’ concerts.
``It is quite significant that hallyu has gone beyond Asia and reached Europe and other parts of the world. I think the popularity of K-pop and Korea’s other cultural contents will help the nation attract more foreign visitors,’’ the KTO official said.
Over the weekend, S.M. Entertainment organized two sold-out concerts in Paris for K-pop fans in Europe. They featured Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, TVXQ, SHINee and f(x), all of them popular girl groups or boy bands who have enjoyed a recent surge in international fame.