"The Handsome Korean Guy, What Is He Saying?" Surge in Japanese Teens Learning Korean [Nichiyobi Nichibunka]

Japanese TBS Drama 'I Love You'
Popularity of Korean Actors and Korean Dialogue
Rapid Increase in Korean Language Learners Among Teens and Twenties

Recently in Japan, TBS's Tuesday drama 'Eye love you' literally became a huge hit. The final episode aired last Tuesday, but it seems many people still can't get over the drama.

Whenever I meet Japanese friends or acquaintances who bring up this drama, I feel my shoulders lift with pride. This is because the drama features Korean actor Chae Jong-hyeop, who is gaining popularity. Above all, thanks to this, the number of young Japanese people wanting to learn Korean has sharply increased. There was even an interesting article introducing the Korean language boom that has risen again since Yonsama.

Today, I will introduce the second Korean language boom created by Eye love you.

The main cast of I Love You posing with the Korean 'Yangmeori' hairstyle at the hot spring. (Photo by I Love You X Official Account)

This drama tells the story of Yuri Motomiya, a female entrepreneur who can read the true feelings of the person she makes eye contact with, and Tae-oh Yoon, a Korean international student who studies endangered animals at a Japanese university while working part-time.

The woman can read the other person's true feelings when they make eye contact, but the problem is that Tae-oh's true feelings are heard in Korean, a language she cannot understand at all. I think TBS implemented this very well; during the live broadcast, Tae-oh's inner thoughts are narrated in Korean without Japanese subtitles. Viewers who do not know Korean cannot understand it either. After the live broadcast, the rerun adds Japanese subtitles. This seems like a good strategy to increase viewer immersion and encourage watching the rerun.

The situation where Korean is used is like this: Tae-oh says in Japanese, "Excuse me, are you angry?" and Yuri replies, "I'm not angry." Then Tae-oh's inner thoughts are narrated in Korean as "I think she's really angry."

TBS's Tuesday drama 'I Love You'. (Photo by I Love You X Official Account)

Because of this, reports have emerged that many people want to learn Korean, saying, "I don't know what the male lead is saying, but he's cool." There were even emoticons released featuring the Korean lines from the drama. There was a first Korean language learning boom triggered by Winter Sonata in 2003, and now it is analyzed that a similar boom is beginning again.

According to the Japanese online media MyDona News, the average daily number of Korean learners among Japanese members of the foreign language learning app Duolingo increased by 52% compared to 2022. In popularity rankings, Korean surpassed Chinese and French, coming second only to English. Korean entertainment content such as idol groups like BTS and the drama 'Squid Game' became hot topics, and their popularity seems to have further heated up with this drama.

Japanese LINE emoticons released based on Korean drama dialogues. (Photo by I Love You X official account)

The most common reason Japanese people learn Korean was "because of interest" (29%), followed by "to connect with people" (27%). It was said that they are learning the language not simply for career or travel, but because they are fascinated by Korean culture and society.

However, the popularity of Korean varies by generation. Among those aged 30 and above, only 10-15% choose Korean by age group, but 26% of people in their 20s and 37% of teenagers choose Korean, showing that it is definitely popular among young people in their teens and twenties. Among test takers of the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), university students accounted for the largest share at 30.5%, and by age group, people in their 20s ranked first at 35.9%, followed by teenagers at 22.6%.

Anyway, thanks to the drama, these days we can often see Korean actor Chae Jong-hyeop on Japanese variety shows. Hopefully, this opportunity will serve as a good soft power that fosters Japan's interest in Korea.