K-pop and learning Korean

Soft power: K-pop stars like the BTS have no doubt motivated fans to learn Korean, but many learners do so mainly as a hobby. – AFP

DURING my recent visit to South Korea, people often asked me about the popularity of K-pop overseas. Answering the question was always a bit of challenge because I’m not a fan of K-pop and don’t follow it closely. I have a sense of its popularity in the United States and, to a lesser extent, Japan, but don’t know much about the rest of the world. I start the answer with these limitations, partly in the hope that the conversation will soon move in another direction, which is usually does.

At times, however, I get a follow-up question about the relationship between K-pop and Korean language education overseas that keeps the conversation going. The question is interesting because it assumes that the popularity of K-pop has stimulated an interest in learning Korean. This assumption, of course, rests on the assumption that an interest in popular culture of a particular country correlates with an interest in learning its language. But are these common assumptions correct?