Stay tuned for Pyo Kyung-min's latest K-pop stories, where she digs into the backstories that matter. She’d love to hear from you — share your thoughts at pzzang@koreatimes.co.kr. After all, every article gets better with insights from those who love the scene, just like she does!
NEW YEAR POLL Pop culture drives Korea’s image among expats
Fans of K-pop boy band BTS wait near a military unit in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, as members V and RM prepare for their discharge from mandatory military service, June 10. Newsis
By Pyo Kyung-min
K-culture is dominant factor in developing interest in country
Korea's pop culture continues to play a decisive role in shaping how Korea is perceived by foreigners living in the country, according to a New Year poll conducted by The Korea Times.
Many respondents also say that K-culture provides a fairly authentic glimpse into everyday life here.
The online survey of 258 foreign residents in Korea conducted from Dec. 18 to 24 by Hankook Research at the request of the newspaper, found that images associated with K-dramas, K-films, K-pop and other pop culture overwhelmingly dominated respondents' perceptions of the country.
Graphic by Cho Sang-won
When asked to name up to three images that first come to mind when thinking of Korea, 67 percent of respondents chose pop culture, making it the most frequently cited response by a wide margin. Food and traditional culture followed at 43 percent, while information technology and semiconductors ranked third at 38 percent.
Other responses included high competition in exams and employment at 32 percent, cosmetics at 31 percent, the division of North and South Korea at 27 percent and democracy and civic culture at 19 percent.
Pop culture also emerged as the primary gateway for developing interest in Korea. Asked what initially sparked their interest in the country, 41 percent cited pop culture, far surpassing other factors — advanced IT technologies at 14 percent, food and traditional culture at 11 percent, Hangeul, or the Korean alphabet, at 8 percent and the division of the Korean Peninsula at 6 percent.
Notably, pop culture ranked as the top source of interest regardless of respondents' length of stay in Korea, from those who had lived in the country for just one year to those with more than a decade of residence.
Graphic by Cho Sang-won
Choi Jung-wha, chairperson of the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) and an honorary professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said the findings mirror the shifts she has observed over the past two decades in Korea's international standing.
"In the past, Korea was often seen as a place people visited briefly while traveling between China and Japan," she said. "But today, thanks to the Korean wave, Korea has become a primary destination in its own right. Korean popular culture is far hotter overseas than many people here might realize."
Choi also pointed to the coexistence of modern pop culture and traditional heritage as one of Korea's "defining strengths," noting that interest in contemporary content often leads visitors to encounter traditional elements along the way.
"That combination of modernity and tradition is Korea's unique competitiveness," Choi said.
Graphic by Cho Sang-won
Despite the prominence of entertainment-driven images, most respondents also said that K-culture offers at least a partial reflection of real life in Korea.
When asked how accurately K-pop, dramas and films reflect everyday life in Korea, 20 percent of respondents said the content reflects Korean society very well, while 59 percent said it reflects reality to some extent. By contrast, 15 percent said it does not reflect reality very much and 5 percent said it does not reflect reality at all.
Pop culture critic Jung Duk-hyun noted that while K-content can deepen foreigners' understanding of Korean culture, it can also shape expectations that do not always align with lived reality.
"Because most people encounter Korea first through content, some degree of preconception is inevitable, especially for travelers," Jung said. "There is often an initial sense of expectation, along with an awareness that reality may differ from what they have seen on screen."
As global interest in Korean content expands beyond entertainment toward broader cultural elements, Jung said authenticity will become increasingly important.
"While works naturally include elements of fantasy, the cultural aspects require sincerity," he said. "If those elements are handled with care, the gap foreigners feel when they encounter Korea in real life can be reduced."