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KoreanWaveSeenthroughKPopandDramaSearchTrends::KOREAFOCUS::

KoreanWaveSeenthroughKPopandDramaSearchTrends
LeeJihong
Analyst,LGEconomicResearchInstitute
KimMinhee
SeniorConsultant,LGEconomicResearchInstitute

Thewordhallyu,ortheKoreanWave,datesbacktothe1990s.ItfirstappearedwhenKoreanpopidolgroupsbecamepopular
inChina.RobustexportsofKoreanpopmusicandTVdramaseriesensuedafterWinterSonataandJewelinthePalace
(a.k.a.DaeJangGeum)tookoverseasviewersbystorm.JewelinthePalacehasbeenexportedtoabout90countriessinceit
wasfirstbroadcastin2003,underscoringthehallyuboom.Ithasearned22billionwon(approximately20million)and
generatedanestimated110billionwoninknockoneffects.

Inthelate2000s,anewmusicgenrecalledKpop,centeredaroundyoungidolgroups,spreadbeyondAsiatoLatinAmerica
andEurope.RapperPsysGangnamStylevideoof2012hitmorethan1billionviewsforthefirsttimeonYouTube,becoming
aglobalmegahit.ThisfurtherencouragedthespreadofKpop.WithanewinterestalsoincreasinginTVentertainment
programsbesidesmusicanddramas,moreChineseandIndianagenciesareimportingKoreanentertainmentprogramformats.
Hallyustarsaresobusyperformingoverseasthatthetermcelebritiesairportfashionhasbecomeahouseholdbuzzword.The
meaningofhallyuhasbeenstretchedtomoresectors,includingKfoodandKmedicalservices.

TheeconomicrippleeffectoftheKoreanWavehasbeensignificant.Thepersonal,culturalandrecreationalservicesbalanceof
paymentshasrecordedasurplusfortwoconsecutiveyearsandthenumberofinboundtouristsincreasedoverthepastfive
years.BasedonastudyofforeignersinterestintheKpopanddramas,typesoftypicalhallyucontents,thisreportexamines
changesinhallyuandtheirimpact.Wecomparedthelevelofinterestinhallyuamongnationsandcorrelationsbetween
foreignersinterestinKorea,theirvisitstoKoreaandtheirpurchaseofKoreangoods.
I.KoreanWaveSeenthroughSearchResults

1.SoaringInterestoverthePastDecade

OnlineviewingofKpopmusicvideosandKoreansoapoperashasbeenclimbingsteadily.ImmediatelyafterKoreansingers
releasenewalbums,theirfansaroundtheworldviewYouTubevideosandpostmessages.Sometimes,reactionisfaster
overseasthanathome.Fordramas,manypeopleaccessstreamingservicesandsearchforinformationonthem.Thevolumeof
onlinesearchescangaugethedegreeofinterestinhallyuabroad.Whileitisdifficulttodetermineifthesearchtrafficispositive
ornegative,patternsofinterestandkeysearchwordscanbecompared.

UsingGoogleTrends,whichaccountfor89percentoftheglobalsearchenginemarket,weanalyzedthenumberofsearchesfor
KpopandKoreanTVserialsoverthepast10years.ForKpopwecalculatedthenumberofclicksfor123Koreanpop
singers/groupswhoreceivedprizesatmajormusicawardsinthepastdecade.ForTVdramaserialsweanalyzedthesearch
trafficof274outofsome500worksthathavebeenbroadcastsince2000.AswiththeKpop,weconcludedthatthecombined
numberofclicksfortheseselectedpiecesrepresenttheworldwideinterestinKoreanTVdramas.

ThecombinednumberofclicksfortheKpopandsoapoperasshowsthatoverseasinterestintheKoreanWavehasshotup
overthepastfiveyears,thoughitsrateofincreasehasslowedslightly.Withdramasleadingtheinitialsurgeinthe2000s,there
werenotmanyclicksforKpopuntilthemiddleofthedecade.Butclicksrosesharplyafter2009,whenoverseastoursofKorean
idolgroupsbegantoincrease.Buttheirboomsloweddownsomewhatin2013.InterestinKoreandramasrosedrasticallyafter
2009.Theclickssloweddownin2012,buthaverecentlyrebounded.

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Dramasledtomoreclicksinthefourthquarterof2013mainlyduetothepopularityofHeirs,whichfeaturedmanyhallyustars.
ThisdramawassopopularthatitwaspostedonoverseasstreamingsitesinrealtimewhilebeingbroadcastinKorea,
promptingthousandsofmessages.

ThereisagenerationgapinthefandombetweentheKpopanddramas.WhileKpopmusicgetsmoreclicksfromyounger
peoplewhoenjoytheInternet,dramasarepopularamongoldergenerationswhowatchvideorecordingsorTVbroadcasts.
Therefore,thenumberofclicksfordramascanpossiblybeunderestimatedtoacertaindegree.

Toexaminethecharacteristicsofeachsingerordrama,weselectedthosewithasignificantnumberofclicks.Theanalysis
involved37singersandgroupswhoenjoyedhighpopularityinanyyearbetween2004and2013.Manyofthemcontinuedto
havelargenumbersofclicksforseveralyears.Theoveralltotalrosesharplybetween2008and2010.Buttheincreaserates
haveslowedsince2010,withthenominaltotalfallingslightlyin2013.

Wheneverwediscusstheneedtokeepthehallyuflamealive,weinevitablymentionaheavybiastowardcertainKpopgenres.
Resultsofoverseaspollsurveysaboutthesustainabilityofhallyuhavepointedoutanuncharacteristicuniformityofcontents.
Thisisalsocorroboratedbythegenrecharacteristicsofthesingers/groupswhohavereceivedlargenumbersofclicks.A
comparisonofthenumberofclicksbeforeandafter2010revealedthatthepost2010trendstillfavorsdancingsingers.Outthe
26singers/groupswhoreceivedlargenumbersofclicksin2013,24wereidoldancingsingers/groups.Overall,27idoldancing
singers/groupsofthetotal37singers/groupsinthemainmusicgenreswereinthespotlight.

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Inasimilarway,55outof274TVdramasthathavehadlargenumbersofclicksincertainyearsoverthepast10yearswere
analyzed.Intereststagnatedslightlyin2012butasharpupturnfollowedandcarriedoverinto2013.<Table2>Whilethesearch
trendsfordramasandmusicaresimilar,thereisabigdifferencebetweentheirpatterns.Kpopsingers/groupscontinuously
receiveclicksbyreleasingnewsongs.Incontrast,dramasrarelymaintaintheirpopularitythroughmanyyears.However,some
KoreandramasfeaturingpopularhallyustarscontinuetodrawviewersabroadseveralyearsaftertheyarefirstairedinKorea.

Indeed,dramaseriessuchasFullHouse(2004)andPalace(2006)haveconstantlyattractedclicksovertheyears.Trendy
dramaslikeminiseriesarealsogainingpopularityoverseas,astheyarepostedinrealtimeonstreamingsites.Butincaseof
someperioddramasordailyserialsfavoredbyoldergenerations,theybecomepopularonlywhentheyarebroadcastonTVor
theirvideoshitthemarket.So,thereisatimedifferencebetweenwhentheyarebroadcastinKoreaandwhenoverseasclicks
increase.

2.InterestinHallyuContentRemainsHigh

TheclicksonGoogleareofftheirpeakbutthecurrentstateofhallyucannotbedefinedbythenumberofclicksalone.For
example,somecountrieslikeChina,wherehallyuisbooming,donthaveeasyaccesstoGoogleandfansinsomeother
countrieshaveaccesstoKoreanculturalcontentthroughlocalsearchengines.Theactualnumberofclickscouldbelarger,
consideringthatmanypeopleusesearchwordsintheirownlanguages,whileweanalyzedsearchesbasicallydoneinEnglish.
(Inourstudyofdramas,wealsoanalyzedsearchesdoneinChineseandJapanese,inviewofthekeeninterestinKoreansoap
operasinChinaandJapan.)

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WehavesofaranalyzedthetrendofinterestinKoreanpopularcultureabroadoverthepast10yearsbasedonthenumberof
clicks.NowwearegoingtolookatsomedatafromwhichwecanunderstandtherelativelevelofinterestintheKoreanWave.

DramasaremainlyaccessedthroughvideositeslikeYouTubeorsitesprovidingstreamingservices.IncaseofKpop,mostly
dancemusicperformedbyidolgroupsenjoyshighpopularityoverseas.Theirconcertsinvolvebothacousticandvisualappeal,
whichexplainswhymanypeopletakeinterestintheirmusicorperformancevideosaswellasintheirmusicitself.

Forarelativeanalysis,wecomparedYouTubevideosofKpopandKoreandramastothoseofJapaneseandChinesemusic
anddramas.(WeusedWebometricAnalyst2.0,aprogramthatautomaticallycollectsdataofWeb,YouTubeandFlickr.)To
determinethereactionsthatKorean,JapaneseandChinesemusicanddramasarereceiving,respectively,wecalculatedratios
ofmessages,andlikesanddislikesonthevideoscollected.TheratioofmessagestoKpopmusicreferstotheratioall
messagestototalclicksforKpoprelatedvideos.Therefore,ahighratioofmessagesmeansahighratioofmessagestoclicks
forKpopvideos.

However,somemessagesmayhavenothingtodowiththevideos,ortheycanbeeitherpositiveornegative.Foranindexthat
canovercomelimitsofmessages,wecomparedtheratiosoflikesanddislikestothetotalnumberofviews.Bynation,the
ratiooflikesonKpopandmessagesonKoreawashigher,whilethatofdislikeswaslower.ThisshowsthatKpopvideos
receivedmorepositiveresponsesthanJapaneseorChinesemusicvideos.

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Kpopvideoshit700millionviews,faroutdistancingJpop(400millionviews)orCpop(200millionviews)videos.Thisshows
thatKoreanmusicisgettingmorefavorableresponsesthanJapaneseorChinesemusicinallaspectsclicks,messagesand
likes.

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KoreansoapoperashadlessimpactthanKpopandpromptedfewermessages.Buttheyreceivedmorelikesthantheir
JapaneseorChinesecounterparts.OnthebackofthehighpopularityofKpopandTVdramas,overseasfansalsotookkeen
interestintherelatedentertainmentindustry.AnybodywhoisinterestedinKoreanpopculturemayobtaininformationabout
theirfavoriteperformersthroughthewebsitesofentertainmentagencies,thestarsprivateblogs,orsocialmedia.

Welookedathowmanywebsiteshavelinkstotheofficialsitesofmajorentertainmentagenciesandsocialmedianetworkslike
Twitter,FacebookandYouTube.Forarelativecomparison,westudiedthesitesofKoreasleadingentertainmentagencies,
globalalbummakerslikeUniversalMusicandWarnerMusic,JapanesefirmssuchasAvex,Amuse,UniversalMusicJapanand
WarnerMusicJapan,ChinesefirmssuchasYuehuaandHuayiBrothers,andHongKongenterpriseslikeEmperor
EntertainmentGroupandMediaAsia.However,itwasntpossibletoinstallhyperlinkstothewebsitesofYGandJYP,two
leadingKoreanentertainmentagencies.

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Thesizeofthecirclesrepresentshowmanysitesarelinked.Morelinksindicateacompanyfrequentlyupdatesinformation,
postsinterestinginformation,orfeaturesmanypopularstars.<Figure4>showsthatKoreasentertainmentcompaniesare
gettinglessattentionthanglobalenterpriseslikeUniversalMusicandWarnerMusic,butmoreattentionthanthoseinJapan,
HongKongandChina.ItalsoshowswhichcountriessiteshavelinkstoKoreanagenciessites.Dataanalysisindicatesthat
sitesinvariouscountrieslikeFrance,Indonesia,SpainandThailandhaveinterestinKoreansites.
II.CorrelationsbetweentheKoreanWaveandRelatedIndustries

OverseasinterestinKoreanpopcultureisnotlimitedonlytoculturalcontents,buthasexpandedtoKoreaitselfaswellas
Koreanbusinessesandindustries.

In2012,theKoreaChamberofCommerceandIndustrysurveyed300majorserviceandmanufacturingcompaniestoevaluate
theeconomiceffectsoftheKoreanWaveandtheirbenefitsforKoreanbusinesses.Some82.8percentoftherespondents
offeredpositiveviews,saying,ThespreadoftheKoreanWavehashelpedcreateafavorableimageforKoreaandKorean
goods.Also,51.9percentattributedtheirincreasedsalestotheKoreanWave.Salesincreasedconspicuouslyinservices
industries,includingculture,tourismandlogistics.Inaddition,manufacturersoffoods,electronicappliances,cosmetics,cars
andclothing,inthatorder,haveboostedsalesthankstotheKoreanWave.

BasedontheclickvolumeforKoreanpopcultureoverthepastdecade,wecategorizedcountriesintothreegroups:sixmature
marketswheretheKoreanWavehasspreadfarandwide,fivegrowingmarketswhereinterestintheKoreanWaveisgrowing,
andfiveincipientmarketswhereinterestintheKoreanWavehasemergedinthepasttwoorthreeyears.Andwelookedfor
correlationsbetweenthenumberofclicksforhallyuineachcountryandthenumberofitscitizensvisitingKorea,andbetween
KoreasexportsofmajorconsumergoodsandinterestintheKoreanWaveinrespectivecountries.

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1.MorePeopleExperienceHallyuandVisitKorea

ThemostquotedindicatorwhenwediscusstheimpactoftheKoreanWaveisthebalanceofpaymentsinpersonal,culturaland
recreationalservices,whichcomprisesaudioandvideoservicesthatarecloselyrelatedtoexportsandimportsofmusic,
broadcastingandvideocontents,andtheotherservices.Theindicatorremainednegativeafter1990,andfellfurtherafter2000.
Butin2010,whentheKoreanWavebeganspreadinginearnest,thebalanceofpaymentsimprovedandpostedasurplusin
2012and2013.

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Inaudioandvideoservicebalanceofpayments,theservicespending(importsofaudioandvideocontents)hasremainedflat
since2007,whiletheservicerevenue(exportsofaudioandvideocontents)hasincreasedconsistentlytopostasurplusin
2013.

WiththenumberofforeignersvisitingKoreaincreasingthankstotheKoreanWave,thetravelbalanceofpayments,aswellas
thepersonal,culturalandrecreationalservicesbalanceofpayments,hasbeenpositivelyaffected.Accordingtooverseas
surveysconductedbytheMinistryofCulture,SportsandTourismtwicein2012,58.1percentoftherespondentswhohad
experiencedKoreanpopculturewantedtovisitKorea.Koreastourismrevenuehasbeenincreasingcontinuouslythankstothe
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growingnumberofinboundtourists.Therisingtourismrevenueishighlycorrelatedwithsurplusinthepersonal,culturaland
recreationalservicesbalanceofpayments.

TodeterminecorrelationsbetweentheKoreanWaveandthenumberofforeignvisitorstoKorea,weanalyzedthelevelof
peoplesinterestinKoreanpopcultureineachcountryandthenumberofvisitorstoKoreafromthosecountries.Thelevelof
interestintheKoreanWavewasestimatedbasedonthenumberofclicksfortheaforementionedKpopsingers/groupsand
dramaswithhighviewingrates,andthenumberofinboundtouristsbasedonKoreaTourismOrganizationstatistics.

Asaresult,alinearrelationshipappearedbetweennationallevelsofinterestinhallyuandthenumberoftouristsvisitingKorea
fromrespectivecountries.Thatis,moretouristscamefromcountriesthathavehighernumbersofwebsearchesforhallyu
content.Also,inregionswherehallyuhasalreadyspreadbroadly,highcorrelationsappearedbetweenthenumberofvisitorsto
KoreaandsearchesforKpop,ratherthanKoreansoapoperas.

ThissuggeststhatinregionswhereKoreandramasarealreadywellknown,Kpoprefreshedpeoplesinterestinhallyuafter
theirinterestinsoapdramashadsomewhatdwindled.Hallyurelatedtourismpeakswhileinterestinhallyuisgrowing.Inthis
regard,weexpecttoseetourismrevenueincreasethroughthespreadofhallyuincountrieswherethewaveisabouttospread
anditsinfluenceistogrow.

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Thequantifiedcorrelationsbetweenhallyuandtouristarrivalscanbefoundindiversifiedtourismprogramsbasedonhallyu
content.Forexample,hallyurelateddramafilminglocationshavebecomenewtouristattractionsasmanyhallyufansvisitKorea
toseeplaceswheretheirfavoritedramaswerefilmed.Likewise,withtheKpopgainingpopularity,urbandistrictsclusteredwith
entertainmentagencieshaveemergedastouristhotspots.

2.HallyuContentBoostsInterestinKoreanGoods

Popstarsfashion,hairstyleandeventheirpersonalelectronicgadgetsattractattention.RightafteraTVprogramordramais
airedorcelebritiesareexposedbymedia,theirpersonalaccessorieslikebagsorclothesmakeittothetopofthewordsearch
charts.Thisphenomenonalsooccursabroad.OverseashallyufanspaycloseattentiontowhatKpopstarswear,what
cosmeticstheyuse,andwhatbagsorsmartphonestheycarry.Asurgeinsalesofgoodsadvertisedbyhallyustars,ofcourse,
hasalottodowiththisphenomenon.

Accordingto2012dataoftheKoreaChamberofCommerceIndustry,VinegreatDrinkHongCho,advertisedbythegirlgroup
Kara,tookthelargestshareofvinegardrinksinJapan,andSeoulMakkeoli,advertisedbyactorJangKeunsuk,doubledits
targetofexporttoJapanin2011.Similarly,exportsofKissMyunnoodle,advertisedbyidolsingerandactorParkYoochun,to
Japan,China,NewZealandandRussiahaveincreased

ChinesevisitorsbringKpopstarsphotospreadstoKoreandepartmentstorestofindidenticalitemsfeaturedinthepictures.
TheyevenshowinterestinKoreanfurniture,dailynecessitiesandsmallelectronicappliances,aswellasfashionitems.

HowdoestheinterestinKoreanpopcultureaffecttheexportsofKoreangoods?Accordingtoa2012surveybytheKorea
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CultureandTourismInstitute,smallandmidsizeexportersnotedthatmusicanddramas,amongotherhallyucontent,havean
effecton42percentoftheirtotalsales.A$100increaseintheexportofculturalproductsleadsto$412inexportsofconsumer
goodsor$395inexportsofhightechproducts,theKoreaEximBankspeculatedin2012.

Inexaminingthecorrelationbetweensearchesforhallyucontentandexportsofconsumergoods,wefocusedon12goods
cosmetics,beverages,tobacco,clothes,jewelry,leathergoods,furniture,refrigerators,washingmachines,TVs,carsandmobile
phones.Wefoundthattherewasahighcorrelationbetweenanincreaseinexportsandthedisseminationlevelofhallyu.

Forinstance,significantcorrelationsexistedbetweencosmeticsandhallyuinmostcountrieswherethecrazeforKoreanpop
culturebeganspreadingandwhereitsinfluencewasgrowing.Insomeofthecountrieswherehallyuhadalreadyspreadfarand
wide,therewerehighcorrelationsbetweenbeverages,clothesandelectronicappliances,inadditiontocosmetics,andthe
searchvolumeforKoreanpopculture.ThereweremoredistinctivecorrelationsbetweenKpopandexportsthanbetween
dramasandexports.

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Aswasfoundbyvariousearlierstudies,theeffectofhallyuontheexportofcosmeticsturnedouttobeenormousinmost
countriesregardlessofthelevelofinterestinhallyu.SalesofcosmeticssoaredinChinaandSoutheastAsiannationsafter
hallyustarswererecruitedasmodelsforcosmetics.Exportstotheseregionshaveincreasedconsistentlysince2000,withthe
annualincreaseratereaching30percentrecently.

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ForeignerskeeninterestinKoreancosmeticsandclothesiscloselyrelatedtomajortouristdestinationsinKoreatherewasa
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surgeinclicksfortypicalcommercialdistrictslikeMyeongdongandDongdaemunMarket.InapollconductedbytheMinistryof
Culture,SportsandTourismin2012,foreignvisitorscitedMyeongdong,DongdaemunMarket,ancientpalaces,Mt.NamTower,
andNamdaemunMarket,inthatorder,astheirfavoriteplacesinSeoul.

Weanalyzedrelationsbetweentheinterestinhallyuandtourismandexportsinvarioustimeperiods.First,wecompared
changesingrowthratesofinboundtouristsfrom,andexportsto,hallyufriendlycountrieswiththoseofKoreasentiretourism
andexports.From2009to2013,thenumberofinboundtouristsincreased13.9percent,5.3percentagepointshigherthanthe
averageincreaserateof8.6percentinthepreviousfiveyears.Duringthisperiod,theincreaserateoftouristarrivalsfrommost
countrieswheretheinfluenceofhallyuwasgrowingorhadspreadwidelywashigherthanthatofalltouristarrivalsinKorea.But
thiswasnotthecasewithmostothercountrieswherehallyuwasintroducedrecently.

Koreasaveragegrowthrateofexportsstoodat11.4percentinthe20092013period,down2.2percentagepointsfrom13.6
percentinthepreviousfiveyears.Buttheexportsofgoodsshowinghighcorrelationswithhallyugrew15.8percent,from0.5
percentto15.3percent,incontrasttooverallslowdowninexports.Exportstomostregionswherehallyuhaswidelyspreadhas
beenontherisesince2009.

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III.Conclusion

Koreanpopularculture,mainlyKpopandTVdramas,hasbeenspreadingfarbeyondAsiatoNorthAmerica,Europeandeven
LatinAmerica.InterestintheKoreanWavehasimpactedvarioussectors,includingrelatedbusinessesandindustries.Inthis
report,wediscussedthattherearehighcorrelationsbetweenthegrowinginterestinKpopanddramasandtheincreasing
numberofinboundtouristsandgrowthofexports.WebelievethattheKoreanWavenotonlyplaysaroleasculturalcontentbut
hasdirectandindirectinfluenceoncreatingpositiveimagesofKoreanproductsandKoreaitselfintheglobalcommunity.
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Recently,withtheincreaseinsearchesforKpopanddramasapparentlyslowingdownsomewhat,therehavebeenvoicesof
concernaboutthesustainabilityoftheKoreanWave.AreviewofsearchtrendsonGoogleshowsthatKpopisstillledbyidol
groupsandaconsiderablenumberofdramasrelyprimarilyonthepopularityofhallyustarsratherthanuniqueandoriginal
storylines.DespitethewidespreadcontentionthatKpopanddramashaverecentlyexpandedtheirinfluenceintheworld,they
haveyettospreadmoreextensivelybeyondAsiaandthePacific.GoogledataalsoshowthatthepopularityofKpopand
dramasremainsconfinedtospecificregions.ThisiswhyweareworriedthatinterestintheKoreanWaveinthoseregionsmight
ebbsoon,dependingontheirdomesticpolicieseconomicsituations.

Therefore,moreeffortsareneededtoseeKpopanddramasdiversifytheirgenrestomaketheoverseasenthusiasmforKorean
popculturemoresustainable.ItisnecessarytoexpandthegenresofhallyubydrawingonoverallKoreanculture,including
traditionalarts,fashion,cuisineandlanguage,enhancingtheirsynergisticeffectstointroducemoreattractiveaspectsofKorea
tovisitorswhoarriveafterexperiencingKpopanddramas.
[LGBusinessInsight,February19,2014,LGEconomicResearchInstitute]

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