Korean Culture Dominates Global Mainstream Stage — Stray Kids Set New Billboard Records, Win First Tony Awards

Korean culture is seizing a central position in the global entertainment landscape. Stray Kids’ record-breaking performance on Billboard and the first Tony Award win for the Korean musical “Man of Happy Ending” serve as clear evidence of this trend. As the representative group of fourth-generation K-POP, the eight-member boy group Stray Kids rose to become a top global artist just seven years after their 2018 debut. According to the “2024 Year-End Report” released by market research firm Luminate, Stray Kids’ mini-album “ATE” ranked second in U.S. CD sales with 442,000 units sold. This achievement places them behind the world-renowned pop star Taylor Swift and marks the highest position ever achieved by a K-POP artist. It is also an unprecedented record as the same group managed to have two of their albums enter the top 10 in U.S. CD sales for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024. Their album “SKZHOP HIPTAPE 合 (HOP),” released in December, ranked fifth. Stray Kids’ performance on the Billboard 200 chart is equally impressive. They achieved five consecutive number ones with “ATE” and six consecutive number ones with “合 (HOP),” setting a first-ever record in the chart’s 69-year history. Their prominence is also evident in Japan. Their latest album “GIANT” topped Billboard Japan’s charts with 446,002 units sold and also reached the top of Oricon’s charts with 335,000 units sold. Their performance at Tokyo Dome was even more outstanding. During the three-day Tokyo Dome concert as part of their world tour “dominATE,” 165,000 fans attended. Stray Kids have differentiated themselves through collaborations with various global media content. They contributed “SLASH” to Marvel’s blockbuster film “Deadpool & Wolverine” soundtrack and released “Come Play” for Netflix’s popular series “Aquin.” They also composed the opening theme “NIGHT” for the second season of the Naver Webtoon-based anime “Tower of God,” which has accumulated 5.3 billion global views. The ongoing world tour “dominATE” aims to draw a total of 2.2 million fans across 55 performances in 34 locations worldwide, setting a new record as the largest audience turnout in K-POP history. The global influence of Korean culture is expanding beyond K-POP itself. The musical “Man of Happy Ending,” the first South Korean work to win a Tony Award, made its Broadway debut in 2024 after its initial release in Seoul in 2016, and won a total of six awards at this ceremony. Composer Will Aaronson and lyricist Hugh Park received awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Musical Book, respectively, while actor Darren Chris won the award for Best Actor. The show depicts the romance between two robots living in an apartment outside Seoul and incorporates Korean cultural elements such as Seoul, Jeju Island, and flower pots into the Broadway stage. Korea has now joined the ranks of countries that have won the four most prestigious awards in entertainment history. “Squid Game” won Emmy Awards in 2022, “Parasite” received four Academy Awards in 2020, and soprano Cho Su-mi won a Grammy Award in 1993. Mike Van, CEO of Billboard, described K-POP as “content that has become part of the global mainstream, not just a fleeting trend.” He added that “the achievements of Korean artists in the United States, South America, and Europe are not merely regional responses but examples proving their status as global artists.” Billboard is exploring various approaches to Korean music through K-POP, and this trend is being further realized through global events such as the “MyK POP Fest” in 2025. Korea’s cultural industry is experiencing remarkable annual growth in terms of the quantity, quality, and impact of its content. The 88rising Head in the Clouds Music Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary by bringing together K-POP legends such as G-Dragon and 2NE1 alongside global icons like Porter Robinson and Jackson Wang, reaffirming the global influence of Asian culture.