Hallyu (Korean Wave) is expanding its reach to literature, film and tourism, a report released on Feb. 25 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture Information Service Agency said. Shown are Rosé of the K-pop girl group BLACKPINK and Bruno Mars performing their hit "APT." (CJ ENM)

By Xu Aiying

Hallyu (Korean Wave) is moving away from its focus on music and K-dramas to diversify into literature, film and tourism.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture Information Service Agency on Feb. 25 said this in a research report on global Hallyu trends last year as seen through foreign media and social media data.

The study analyzed 1.5 million pieces of collected data from foreign news articles and social media data from 30 countries between October 2024 and September last year.

Asia led all continents (44%) in foreign media coverage of Hallyu, followed by Europe (20.8%) and North America (16.9%). K-pop was the most popular form of the Korean Wave in most regions including Asia, Europe, North America, and Central and South America.

Africa, however, stood out with a distinctive interest in Korean literature while Oceania seemed to focus on Korean cinema.

By country, the U.S. saw the most coverage of Hallyu, followed by India, Argentina and Vietnam in that order. Korean literature was prominent in Japan, K-dramas in Vietnam and Korean cinema in Brazil.

The report highlighted the growing global popularity of Korean food. New keywords related to Korea included "chef" and "Squid Game" as well as traditional entries like kimchi, soju (clear liquor), ramyeon (instant noodles) and bibimbap, or spicy mixed rice with meat and vegetables.

This was thanks to the appearance of Korean food in hit content like the reality competition show "Culinary Class Wars" and the record-breaking K-drama "Squid Game" on streaming platforms.

The animated blockbuster "KPop Demon Hunters," which exceeded 300 million views, was cited as having the biggest impact among individual pieces of content. The Jeju Island-based K-drama "When Life Gives You Tangerines" also attracted a global following thanks to its localized titles customized for each country's sentiment and the universal theme of familial love.

Media coverage of Korean literature jumped over 30 percentage points from the previous quarter after author Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Foreign media emphasized the significance of the honor and how Korean literature opened a new chapter in the history of world literature.

xuaiy@korea.kr