For the eighth consecutive year, K-pop has been named the most prominent image associated with South Korea according to a global survey.
The 2025 Global Hallyu Survey, released recently by Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, showed 17.8% of respondents said K-pop was the first thing that came to mind when they thought of Korea.
The survey was conducted across 28 countries from Nov 29 to Dec 27, 2024, targeting 26,400 people aged 15 to 59 who had experienced Korean cultural content. The Philippines and Hong Kong were included in the survey for the first time.
The second most common answer was Korean cuisine, which came to mind for 11.8%, followed by Korean dramas (8.7%), beauty products (6.4%) and Korean films (5.6%). For the first time since 2012, IT products and brands fell out of the top five with only 5.1%.
Among K-pop artistes, 24.6% of respondents rated BTS as the most popular act, securing the band’s spot at the top for a seventh consecutive year. Blackpink followed with 12.3%, marking its sixth consecutive year in second place. IU, Psy and Twice rounded out the top five.
The overall favourability rating for Korean content stood at 70.3%, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous year. The newly added category of Korean language recorded a favourability rating of 75.4%.
For the fourth year in a row, the Netflix original series Squid Game was named the most popular Korean drama, chosen by 9.7% of respondents. Queen Of Tears followed with 6.5%, and Crash Landing On You came in third with 2.2%.
In the film category, Parasite directed by Bong Joon-ho maintained its top position for the fifth consecutive while Train To Busan ranked second and Exhuma came third.
Actor Lee Min-ho remained the most popular Korean actor for 12 consecutive years, chosen by 7% of the respondents. Actors Gong Yoo, Song Hye-kyo followed in second and third place, while the scandal-ridden actor Kim Soo-hyun secured fourth place.
The survey also highlighted the growing economic impact of Korean culture.
Among those who had experienced Korean content, 58.9% said they were likely to purchase Korean products or services in the future. This marks an increase of 8.2 percentage points compared to the previous year.
However, the survey also noted a rise in negative perceptions of Hallyu as its global influence expands. A total of 37.5% of respondents said they agreed with negative views about Korean pop culture, the highest figure in the past five years and a 4.9 percentage point increase from last year. The most cited reasons included excessive commercialization, concerns about North Korea’s international presence, and the desire to protect local content in their own countries. – The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
