Korea and the K-wave
On 21st December 2012, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” became the first video to reach one billion views on YouTube. Not only did the video spark a global dance craze, it signalled the arrival of South Korea as a global cultural powerhouse.
In 2020, Parasite made history as the first non-English language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars. A year later, Squid Game captivated a global audience, reaching 142 million viewers in its first four weeks and topping the Netflix charts in 94 countries. In 2023, Boyband BTS became the most streamed group on Spotify (Punt, 2023) and girlband Blackpink’s 2020 video for “How You Like That” was viewed 86.4 million times in 24 hours, breaking their own record set in 2019 for their “Kill this Love” video (Chan, 2025). This surge in South Korean cultural output has been dubbed the K-wave or Hallyu and means more people are being exposed to the Korean language than ever before.
The origins of the K-wave
South Korean film and TV first gained traction in Asia in the 1990s, so much so that governments in Japan, mainland China and Taiwan tried to curb their influence to protect local industries. Having conquered the Asian market, South Korean media needed to look further afield if it wanted to maintain its dominance, so began to target markets in the United States, Mexico and France (Jin, 2016).
The South Korean government, particularly under President Lee Myung-bak, soon recognised the economic and diplomatic potential of Hallyu and shifted from indirect support of the industry to a more hands-on approach. In 1994, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) spent just 1.8% of its budget on the cultural industries. By 2012, this had risen to 13%. In 2023, the MCST allocated over 844 billion Won (over 600 million USD) to boost “K-content,” ensuring that Korean culture remained accessible at home and celebrated abroad (Zwick, 2023).
Strategies for global success
One key strategy has been adapting content for international audiences. Korean entertainment powerhouses, such as SM and YG, use English, Japanese, and other languages to reach foreign audiences. They study local cultures to tailor content and have even established regional offices to produce market-specific versions of albums and shows.
Meanwhile, platforms like YouTube have helped erase language barriers that previously made content less accessible to foreign audiences. The introduction of subtitles and automatic captions has brought Korean content to a much wider audience, allowing K-pop stars to break numerous records on the platform.
Increased interest in Korean
Following in the footsteps of other countries, the South Korean government founded the King Sejong Institute, the country’s language and cultural organisation, similar to France’s Alliance Française and China’s Confucius Institute. Launched in 2007, the institute has grown rapidly from 29 centres in 2010 to 244 in 2023. And it’s no wonder; after Squid Game premiered, Duolingo recorded a 76% surge in new Korean learners in the UK and 40% in the US. Similarly, the number of students at KSI institutes increased from 740 in three countries in 2007 to 76,000 students in 82 countries in 2020 (Cha & Seo, 2021).
The global success of Korean music, film and TV is far from accidental. It is the outcome of a decades-long cultural strategy combining government investment and a keen understanding of global audiences. The rise of the King Sejong Institute is the natural next step in this journey, allowing South Korea to solidify its place on the world stage as have other world players before it.
References
Cha, S. & Seo, Y. (2021). Netflix hit show ‘Squid Game’ spurs interest in learning Korean. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/netflix-hit-show-squid-game-spurs-interest-learning-korean-2021-10-11/
Chan, A. (2025). BLACKPINK’s History-Making Accomplishments: A Timeline. Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/lists/blackpink-timeline-history-making-accomplishments/first-k-pop-girl-group-canadian-hot-100/
Jin, D. (2016). New Korean Wave: Transnational cultural power in the age of social media. University of Illinois press.
Punt, D. (2023). K-pop legends BTS reach 31 billion streams on Spotify to smash own record. Guinness World Records. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/3/k-pop-legends-bts-reach-31-billion-streams-on-spotify-to-smash-own-record-740780
Zwick, S. (2023). Spread of Culture and Language in Global Age – A Soft Power Tool: Comparing Germany and South Korea. STEAR. https://www.stearthinktank.com/post/culture-language-soft-power-germany-south-korea
