Jay Park, right, of K-pop band Enhypen, who was born in Seattle, prepares to throw ceremonial first pitches with bandmates before a Seattle Mariners game, April 29, 2024, in Seattle.
(AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
New K-pop groups comprised entirely of North Americans, Korea’s ‘K-culture training visa’ to attract international participation and K-pop auditions in Canada are all signs of a K-pop evolution.
SEVENTEEN are the first K-pop band to perform at Glastonbury.
TCD/Prod.DB/Alamy Stock Photo
SEVENTEEN’s performance will mark a major milestone in Korea’s decade’s long strategy to take Korean popular culture to the world.
People walking on the street in Pyongyang, North Korea, August 2012.
Chintung Lee/Shutterstock
A survey shows the impact foreign media is having on North Korea’s residents, despite the government’s harsh crackdown
The seven members of BTS.
Big Hit Music
In telling the story of BTS, Beyond The Story also tells the story of K-pop and how its dynamics have changed over the years.
Fans outside the ABBA Arena in London, a venue built for the ABBA Voyage concert, in May 2022.
(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Fans who flock to see ABBA Voyage, a digital avatar concert, chase the feeling of a live ABBA performance. They’re finding it, and they’re building meaningful connections, too.
Hanni (far left) and the other four members of K-Pop group NewJeans pose for photos on the red carpet at the Fact Music Awards in Seoul, South Korea, Oct. 8, 2022.
(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
The recent online treatment of a K-pop singer reveals how the legacy of the Vietnam War still holds sway over the country to this day.
Installation image of exhibition introduction with PSY S Gangnam Style at Hallyu The Korean Wave at the V A Victoria and Albert Museum London.
V&A
Starting in the late 1990s, South Korea’s promotion of its cultural exports abroad has made it a major power on the international stage.
The YouTube channel Korean Englishman has over five million subscribers.
YouTube/Screenshot
Korea is an attractive destination for aspiring influencers, and the government supports these budding stars.
MediaPunch Inc/Alamy
Military service is compulsory in South Korea and many deem it unfair that the band’s members have been allowed to put it off.
Within a month of its release, South Korea’s ‘Squid Game’ has become Netflix’s most-watched original, breaking the record previously held by ‘Bridgerton’.
(Shutterstock)
Just because Asian content is currently trending, doesn’t mean anti-Asian racism and discrimination aren’t. Let’s support Asian people in accessing mental health services.
Instagram
An online influencer’s desire to identify as ‘transracial’ reveals their own racism, transphobia and privileged perspective.
BTS performs at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards in Los Angeles.
Billboard Music Awards 2021 via Getty Images
A professor who researches BTS is building a diverse archive of media and analysis about the pop icons.
Members of BTS at the 61st Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
(Shutterstock)
A new wave of Korean music and cinema can play a powerful role in changing perceptions and stereotypes of Asian people.
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The state-sponsored pop cultural renaissance of Korea shows how language isn’t an obstacle to world domination.
GettyImages
Ko tā te kāwanatanga Kōrea whakahou i te ahurea o te marea, kei te whakaatu kāore te reo e aukati ana i tō angitu i te pae matawhānui o te ao.
BTS/Youtube
BTS has broken record after record but the industry still discounts K-pop as not pop.
President Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla. had thousands of empty seats, thanks at least in part to the actions of teenagers who mobilized on the social media platform TikTok.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
If teenagers organizing on social media can hamper a presidential campaign rally, how challenging is it to manipulate elections?
K-pop band BTS and their company, Big Hit, have donated money to Black Lives Matter. Most bands and companies in the industry have not made any sort of statements.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Few of those in the K-pop industry have donated or even spoken out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Border-crossing lovers.
Netflix
A cross-border love story set on the Korean peninsula is the most popular television drama in South Korean history.
EPA/ANGEL COLMENARES
Even though the way we access pop music has changed and gone digital, hitmakers lag behind other industries in terms of globalisation.