Abdullah Khan

Reasons why Korean culture is so popular Description: Korean culture is gaining popularity around the world at a fast pace. Reasons behind it are several. Korean language school has attempted to analyze those factors. Article: Many people around the world see no difference between Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese etc. However, all these people are very different and every one of those has their own distinct history and culture. This article attempts to investigate the reasons behind the popularity of Korean culture. There was a time when people knew very less about Korean culture. Now, Korean culture is not alien to a considerable number of people. Many factors played in the favor of Korean culture and exported it to every major country in the world. Furthermore, Korean cuisine, dramas, and movies are liked by people around the world. Read on to get an idea of why is Korean culture so popular. 1) Hallyu (Korean Wave) Korea faced the scourge of dictatorship until 90’s and was considered a closed country. After the democratic process started, the country started to open up to outside world. Prosperity levels started to rise. Finally, in 2010 there started a Korean wave which started to export Korean culture. However, the real boom came in 2012 with the release of Gangnam Style. When it became the number 1 hit on youtube people began to wonder about the Korean culture and as a result of this increased interest Korean culture started to become more popular. 2) Electronic Companies You probably know about LG and Samsung right? If yes then let us enlighten you that these are Korean companies. After Korean wave, these companies started to employ marketing tactics known as Hallyu marketing to increase their sales. Guess what? They did so and increased their sales by an average of 30%. These companies played a major role in mainstreaming the Korean culture using their global operations. 3) Korean Dramas Some of you might have heard about Korean dramas. Korean dramas are very popular in East Asian and South Asian countries. Interest has also spiked in European countries and the United States in the recent years. In this age of Netflix and Hulu, Korean dramas are considered vigorous competitors of popular Western dramas. Dramas are often a mirror of the countries they are made in. Due to Hallyu and subsequent popularity of Korean dramas, the Korean culture is becoming popular at an exceptional pace. 4) Korean Movies Korean movies and stars have been lauded and commended by the global film community. Korean movies have unique substance. They are extremely popular in East Asian countries and are gaining firm ground in Western countries. Also, due to Korean wave, many Korean stars acted in Hollywood movies and gave commendable performances. This prompted many people to watch their Korean movies in particular and other Korean movies in general. This enabled the people to get acquainted with the Korean culture. 5) Music Music can be considered one of the most important factors behind Hallyu. It was K-pop which gave Gangnam Style and prompted the people to inquire about the Korean culture. K-pop today is a popular genre of music and heard all over the world. As K-pop now has a following all over the world, more work is being put in the development of K-pop which has transformed it into a really sweet music genre. Also, Korean instrument players win awards at international competitions and constantly make people familiar with their skill. 6) Korean Cuisine There was once a time when Korean restaurants in the west only saw Korean or at most East Asian visitors. Thanks to Hallyu, even Korean cuisine is extremely popular. Kimchi, bibimbap, and bulgogi are favored by many around the world. The cuisine is an important part of the culture and its popularity automatically translates into the popularity of its indigenous culture. 7) Webcomics According to a survey by Korean language school in Singapore, one of the important reasons behind the popularity of Korean culture is the mainstreaming of its comics. Comics are very popular in Asia and with good comics coming out of Korea it was almost inevitable that its culture would become popular. We sincerely hope that we have, to some extent, quenched your thirst about knowing the reasons behind the immense popularity of Korean culture.