K-POP Sparks Another Hallyu Wave in Europe, with Fan Base in Austria Rising 60-Fold

K-POP’s global influence is yielding tangible results beyond Asia, reaching Europe and China as well. In Vienna, Austria—a city renowned for its music and art—there has been a explosive growth in the Hallyu fan community, while album sales in China and Japan are also surging sharply. According to the Korean Cultural Center in Vienna, the number of Hallyu enthusiasts dropped from just 400 in 2012 to over 23,000 today. This represents a expansion of nearly 60 times within 13 years. Despite being open for less than two years, the center has received a continuous stream of inquiries about Korean cultural experiences. In particular, the number of visitors last year reached 12,000, more than triple the figure from the previous year. Korean culture experience events attracted enormous popularity. Long queues formed outside the event venues from early in the morning, and participants registered in advance after overcoming competition ratios exceeding 3 to 1. Attendees enjoyed experiences that blended tradition and modernity by dancing to K-POP music, wearing hanbok, and taking commemorative photos. One participant in a K-POP cover dance event said, “K-POP is like friends. By sharing the same interests and hobbies, I met many new people, and we connected together.” Im Jin-ho, director of the Korean Cultural Center in Vienna, explained, “It started with K-POP and dramas at first, but now it has diversified, with many people seeking to study it more deeply.” The spread of K-POP is also evident in the Chinese and Japanese markets. From March 1 to 20, exports of domestic albums and DVDs to China totaled $9.98 million, a 232% increase compared to the same period last year. Last month, exports to China reached $13.41 million, up 107.9% from February of the previous year, while exports to Japan surged to $10.05 million, marking a 72.9% rise. China and Japan together account for 64.7% of all Korean album and DVD exports, highlighting their significant role. Regionally, growth was particularly strong in Yeongdeungpo-gu, where YG PLUS, a subsidiary of YG Entertainment, is headquartered, and in Yongsan-gu, home to HYBE’s headquarters. In Yeongdeungpo-gu, exports of Chinese albums and DVDs last month reached $3.71 million, a massive 859.6% increase from the previous year, while exports to Japan rose by 715.9%. Behind this growth are expectations of BTS members resuming their activities and prospects of BLACKPINK returning with new content in the second half of the year. In China, hopes that China’s Hallyu restrictions will be lifted are spreading, strengthening existing K-POP fanbases. A researcher at iM Securities analyzed, “In Japan, localization strategies have proven effective, with K-POP accounting for 31% of the top 30 positions on the Oricon singles chart since last year.” On China’s popular short-video platform Douyin, idols such as aespa (170 million likes), SEVENTEEN (150 million likes), and ENHYPEN (89.72 million likes) enjoy high popularity. In Japan, there is strong interest in new groups like ILLIT from HYBE’s label and BABYMONSTER from YG Entertainment, with Google searches for ILLIT increasing by 2.2 times compared to four weeks prior. The securities industry is optimistic about the growth of entertainment companies this year. SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment have each risen by 41.5% and 38.6% since the beginning of the year, while YG PLUS has increased by 41.6%.