K-POP Drives Changes in the Landscape of Western Mainstream Music Markets... Moving Beyond the Success of BTS and BLACKPINK to Become the Core of the Cultural Industry

K-POP has evolved beyond being merely a music genre to reshape the structure of Western mainstream cultural industries. In the global music market transformed by platforms like YouTube and social media, as well as the rise of the MZ generation, K-POP now holds a central position. The most concrete evidence lies in its performance on Billboard charts. BTS is the artist with the highest number of songs reaching number one on Billboard’s main singles chart, the Hot 100, between 2012 and 2022. Four K-POP tracks—Jung Kook’s “Seven,” Jimin’s “Hoo,” BLACKPINK’s Rosé’s “APT.,” and another track—have topped Spotify’s U.S. chart, with the virtual group Savage Boys’ “Your Idol” reaching the summit for the fifth time. K-POP idols have also emerged as “the most powerful brand ambassadors” in the global fashion industry. BTS’s V sparked a major global media event at Paris Men’s Fashion Week as the ambassador for CÉLINE, while BIGBANG’s G-Dragon demonstrated that K-POP idols can collaborate with luxury brands through his groundbreaking partnership with Chanel. BLACKPINK’s Jennie is known as “Human Chanel” and serves as a muse for Jean-Paul Gaultier. This success stems from structural changes that began in the late 1990s. From its inception, K-POP took international markets into account. Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment declared in 1997, “Culture First, Economy Next,” advocating for multinational group formations and overseas activities. The term “Hallyu” first appeared at HOT’s concert in Beijing in 1999, and the Asian market was opened up when BoA reached number one on Japan’s Oricon chart in 2002. The breakthrough into English-speaking markets came with the era of YouTube and social media. Stylish music videos and cover dances became the most popular content on YouTube, and unlike hip-hop, which often features themes of sex, drugs, and violence, K-POP was perceived as “safe music that parents can recommend.” In 2012, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” became the first video on YouTube to exceed 1 billion views, and BTS built a global fanbase through early activities on YouTube and social media. In terms of economic scale, the K-POP phenomenon is even more substantial. According to the Korea Economic Research Institute, the economic impact of Hallyu driven by K-POP amounts to 37 trillion won as of 2022. In 2022, South Korea ranked seventh in the U.S. News & World Report’s “Global Cultural Influence Index.” What is even more noteworthy is that Hallyu has evolved beyond simple content export to a stage where “the world produces content centered around Korean culture.” Examples include “KPop Demon Hunters” produced by Sony Pictures Animation in the United States, “XO, Kitty” created by Netflix using Korean international schools as the backdrop, and “I Love You” produced in Japan. These works place South Korea at the heart of the story rather than merely using it as a filming location. Experts analyzing the global influence of culture believe that democracy lies at the foundation of the K-POP phenomenon. After the June 1987 Uprising, freedom of expression flowed into the cultural industry, giving rise to groundbreaking content such as K-POP and K-dramas. Unlike countries that relied solely on economic size to gain cultural influence, South Korea was able to earn global resonance through content that embodied democratic values and human emotions. Within this trend, the words of Dr. Kim Gu are becoming a reality. Just as he said, “The country I desire is one with strong cultural power,” Korean language, cuisine, hanbok, and Hallyu are no longer merely “Korean things” but have become “universal cultures loved by the world.”