Seoul: On January 28, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Foundation for International Culture Exchange released their 2021 Overseas Hallyu (Korean Wave) Survey.
Respondents included 8,500 Korean cultural content consumers from 18 countries, such as the United States, China, Japan, and more.
The list featured BTS, Lee Min Ho, Hyun Bin, Song Hye Kyo, Crashing Landing On You and more.
Participants were asked to name their favourite Korean singer and 22 per cent chose BTS. The group witnessed a rise of 6.8 per cent in points since their last year’s 15.2 per cent. BLACKPINK was second (chosen by 13.5 per cent of respondents), PSY stood third with 2.9 per cent, TWICE was fourth with 2.4 per cent and EXO came in fifth with 2.1 per cent.
Lee Min Ho topped the list of favourite Korean actors, chosen by 9.6 percent of respondents. Hyun Bin was second (3.5 percent), Gong Yoo third (2.3 percent), Song Hye Kyo fourth (2.1 percent), and Lee Jong Suk fifth (2 percent).
Among the respondents’ favourite Korean films, “Parasite” ranked No. 1 with 18.4 percent, followed by “Train to Busan” in second with 10.2 percent. “Peninsula” grabbed third with 3.5 percent, “#ALIVE” took fourth with 2.1 percent, and “Time to Hunt” came in fifth with 1.6 pecent.
“Crash Landing on You” was the leading favorite Korean drama with a score of 9.5 percent. It was followed by “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” with 4.1 percent, “The World of the Married” and “Itaewon Class” both with 2.8 percent, and “Kingdom” with 2.5 percent.
Dramas were the most popular Korean content, with 29.7 percent of respondents answering that they watch Korean dramas. Beauty products and videos were the next popular (27.5 percent), followed by variety shows (26.9 percent) and fashion (24.8 percent). Many people stated that they consumed more Korean variety shows, dramas, and games compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
