Hallyu Articles Most Published in Asia, Followed by Europe and North America
K-Food Coverage Highest in North America and Africa
Main Keywords Still "Parasite" and "Squid Game"
Interest in Hallyu is growing beyond Asia to Europe and North America. However, attention is focused on whether the growth can continue, as mega hits like the Netflix series 'Squid Game' and the film 'Parasite' have not appeared for several years.
According to the '2024 Global Hallyu Trend Analysis Report' released on the 25th by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture Information Service, from October 2023 to September last year, Hallyu articles were published most in Asia (50.6%), followed by Europe (27.5%) and North America (13.6%). In particular, Asia showed a volume of coverage above average across all content types.
The Hallyu content most covered by media in Asia, Europe, and Latin America was K-pop. Reports mainly introduced BTS members' military enlistment, overseas concerts by Korean artists, and conflicts between HYBE and former ADORE CEO Min Hee-jin. In keyword aggregation, 'BTS (13.4%)', 'performance (9.1%)', and 'BLACKPINK (4.6%)' held high shares.
In North America, Africa, and Oceania, K-food had the highest proportion. The benefits of kimchi, Buldak Bokkeum Myun (spicy stir-fried chicken noodles), and NewJeans' Korean food introduction videos were frequently highlighted. Major keywords included kimchi (15%), soju (1.9%), chicken (1.7%), barbecue (1.6%), bibimbap (1.4%), tteokbokki (1.3%), and Buldak Bokkeum Myun (0.8%).
Foreign media consistently covered the benefits of kimchi and the 'Kimchi Day' event. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism explained, "It also consistently appeared as a top topic on social networking services (SNS)," adding that related core words such as 'spicy' and 'delicious' appeared together. Among non-food words, 'mukbang' was frequently mentioned. It has established itself as a globally recognized term, appearing even when Korean food was not mentioned.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is making Seoul-style kimchi with foreigners attending the "2024 Seoul Gourmet Week - Traditional Market Tour Kimchi Class" held at the Gyeongdong Market Youth Mall in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul on the 8th. Seoul Gourmet Week is an event where 120 restaurants and cafes in the city showcase limited-edition menus for one week, with the number of participating restaurants and cafes doubling compared to last year (67). Photo by Kang Jin-hyung
K-movies and K-dramas also maintained their popularity. Especially films like 'The Night Owl', 'Veteran 2', 'The Outlaws 4', 'Concrete Utopia', and dramas such as 'Squid Game' Season 2, 'Queen of Tears', and 'Seonjae Upgo Twieo' received balanced attention across multiple continents. However, major keywords remained tied to hit works from 3 to 6 years ago, such as 'Squid Game' and 'Parasite'. While globally recognized, they were in a stagnation phase in terms of growth.
In fact, many recent K-movies and K-dramas that achieved great success were sequels. Rather than making original attempts, they reinforced features of previous works, resulting in relatively less impact. Global viewers have also entered a stage of selective interest, making the development of original new content urgent.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism compiled this report by collecting and analyzing 7,640 Hallyu articles reported by over 470 overseas media outlets in cooperation with 35 Korean Cultural Centers abroad, as well as 675,762 social networking service data. Chae Soo-hee, Overseas Public Relations Officer at the Ministry, said, "We will continue to provide timely and diverse analytical data that contribute to establishing Hallyu policies and business strategies by country and continent."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
