By Koh Hyunjeong

Japan's Gen Z, or people born between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s, has picked Korea as its top choice for study abroad.

Chinese tech giant Baidu, which makes Simeji, a popular Japanese-language keyboard app, on April 3 said this was discovered in a survey conducted between Dec. 28 last year and Jan. 4 this year on the top 10 countries for study abroad on 2,438 Japanese youth ages 10-24.

Korea was the most preferred destination for study abroad, followed by the U.S., Canada, France, Australia, Singapore, the U.K., Italy, Japan and China.

The survey said the global K-pop craze was why Korea topped the list, showing the high interest in Hallyu (Korean Wave) by Japan's Gen Z, reaffirming the demographic's interest in Korean content. It added that the trend-conscious Gen Z is hooked on Korean dramas, cosmetics and makeup, and food.

The Simeji rankings are based on surveys of its Gen Z users on the latest trends.

hjkoh@korea.kr