"Chinese Losing Ground, Korean on the Rise"... Why the World Is Enthusiastic

Korean Language Classes Gain Popularity on the Back of K-pop and Soft Power
Economic Downturn and Negative Image Lead to Decline in Chinese Language Popularity

Foreign students participating in a summer school at a university in Seoul are eating Samgyetang to celebrate Chobok. Photo by Asia Economy DB

It has been revealed that the popularity of Chinese language classes at universities in the United States and Europe has fallen behind that of Korean language classes.

On July 20, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that sluggish economic performance in China and its negative national image are reducing interest in learning Chinese, while Korean is gaining more prominence thanks to the popularity of Korean culture, including K-pop.

According to a report by the Modern Language Association, Korean language enrollment at U.S. universities surged by more than 57% from 2013 to 2021, while Chinese language enrollment steadily declined. Clayton Dube, former director of the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California (USC), stated, "Currently, the most popular East Asian language is Korean," adding, "This is 100% driven by K-pop." Foreign media outlets also noted that young people who are exposed to K-pop culture are highly motivated to learn Korean, with BTS in particular having a significant influence.

In contrast, interest in Chinese, which was once one of the most sought-after languages worldwide, has continued to decrease. The most recent report from the Modern Language Association shows that, in the United States, university enrollment in Chinese language classes in 2021 dropped by 25% compared to its peak in 2013. The popularity of Chinese is also declining in Europe. According to data from the UK's Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the number of university students studying Chinese in the UK in 2023 fell by 35% compared to its peak in 2016.

Experts identified China's sluggish economy and negative international image as the reasons for the declining popularity of Chinese. When China's economy was rapidly growing, the need for Chinese increased as economic exchanges became more active. In particular, in 2015, the Barack Obama administration set a goal for one million students to study Chinese before entering college by 2020. In 2013, then-UK Prime Minister David Cameron urged young people to learn Chinese to "seal the business deals of tomorrow." However, as China's economy has recently faltered and business exchange opportunities have decreased, demand for Chinese language skills has also rapidly declined.

The scene of the foreigner Korean handwriting contest held last year at the Korean Language Institute of Yonsei University Language Research and Education Center.

The spread of a negative image of China has also contributed to this trend. Hu Sando of Bildungsnetzwerk China, a Chinese education network in Germany, explained, "People who have never been to China only read news about China," adding, "The German media tends to focus on human rights violations, environmental pollution, and poverty in China." He further analyzed, "Such negative perceptions of China have affected the appeal of learning Chinese in Germany."

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's report, "The Korean Language Globalization Strategy Connecting Future Generations Worldwide (2023)," the number of people using Korean as their first language worldwide is estimated at 77.45 million, and when including those who use it as a second language, the figure rises to 81.7 million. As of last year, 24 countries had adopted Korean as a second foreign language.

Globally, the number of foreign learners studying Korean through King Sejong Institute is also increasing. In 2022, about 117,000 people studied Korean language and culture at 248 King Sejong Institutes in 85 countries. In 2023, the number of institutes expanded to 256 in 88 countries, with the number of students reaching around 216,000. The government plans to expand the number of King Sejong Institutes to 350 and the number of students worldwide to 500,000 by 2027, strengthening the Korean language education infrastructure.

According to the Korea Foundation's "2023 Global Hallyu Status," the number of Hallyu (Korean Wave) fans surged from 9.26 million in 2012 to 225 million as of December 2023. Among Hallyu fan clubs surveyed in 2023, 68% were K-pop fan clubs, and 10% were K-drama fan clubs.