The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Council for International Cultural Exchange on April 2 released the results of the 2024 Global Hallyu Survey based on data collected last year. Seen are artists at the event 2024 K-CON Hong Kong, which ran from Mar. 30-31. (CJ ENM)

By Xu Aiying

A survey has found that 70% of people who have experienced Hallyu (Korean Wave) have a favorable opinion of Korean cultural content.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Council for International Cultural Exchange on April 2 released the results of the 2024 Global Hallyu Survey. The study was conducted online last year from Nov. 10-30 on 25,000 people in 26 countries with exposure to Korean cultural content.

The results found that 68.8% of respondents had a positive opinion of such content. Indonesia saw the highest favorability toward Hallyu with 86.3%, followed by India with 84.5%, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 83% each, and Vietnam 82.9%.

In addition, 66.1% reported a positive shift in perception toward Korea after seeing such content. The rate of change was highest in the UAE (85.9%), India (85.3%) and Vietnam (84.7%) and the lowest in Japan (38.8%) and Italy (48.7%).

On what came to mind first when thinking of Korea, K-pop topped the list with 17.2%, followed by food with 13.2%, K-dramas 7%, information and communications technology products and brands 6.3%, and beauty products (5.2%).

By age, teens (23.1%) and 20-somethings (20.8%) said they thought of K-pop first when Korea came to mind, while Korean food was the choice of the older generation, namely those in their 40s (13.6%) and 50s (17.4%).

Those who had seen K-dramas picked "Squid Game" as their favorite, followed by "The Glory" (3.4%) and "King the Land" (2.6%). "Squid Game" dominated in both Europe (23.7%) and the Americas (8.3%), while "The Glory" was more popular in the Asia-Pacific region (5.4%).

In cinema, "Parasite" (7.9%) and "Train to Busan" (6%) were the top two films for the fifth consecutive year. "Parasite" remained the firm favorite across Europe (10.7%) and the Americas (12.6%), while "Train to Busan" was the top choice in the Asia-Pacific region (8.2%).

On interest in Korean products and services, the survey found that 50.7% of people familiar with Hallyu indicated intent to purchase Korean-made goods and services. By country, such interest was highest in the Middle East and Asia led by Egypt (75.6%), Saudi Arabia (73%), the UAE (72.9%), Vietnam (72.1%) and India (70.7%).

xuaiy@korea.kr