“Aish…” Korean Slang Becomes Internationally Recognized Thanks to The Glory’s Popularity

Slang Trends Emerge as Korean Content Hits Big
Foreign Media: "Seoul is the Entertainment Capital of the World"

Recently, the Netflix original series ‘The Glory’ has gained worldwide popularity, leading to reports that even Korean slang has become an international lingua franca.

On the 6th (local time), the American media outlet Bloomberg News published an article titled “The Boom of Korean TV Programs Drawing Global Viewers to Seoul,” stating, “As Korean content hits big, even Korean slang is becoming trendy.”

The article introduced the story of makeup artist Shanet Thompson, who lives in Los Angeles (LA), USA.

Although Thompson does not speak Korean at all, she unconsciously utters words like “Aish” and “Jenjhang” when things don’t go well. This is because she became familiar with Korean slang after becoming an avid viewer of ‘The Glory.’

Thompson said, “I am American, but I watch more Korean dramas,” adding, “To watch more Korean dramas, I subscribed to another streaming service called ‘Viki’ besides Netflix.” She also frequently visits Korean restaurants and has plans to travel to Korea in 2025.

Netflix Original Series 'The Glory'

Bloomberg reported, “Seoul has emerged as one of the world’s entertainment capitals following the success of the movie ‘Parasite’ and the Netflix series ‘Squid Game.’”

According to the report, Netflix regards Korea as the country producing the most hit works outside of the United States. Last year, over 60% of Netflix subscribers watched Korean content.

In the case of ‘The Glory,’ it was ranked as the most-watched program on Netflix for two consecutive weeks last month and made it into the Netflix popular series ‘Top 10’ in 90 countries including Argentina, France, and India.

Netflix invested $500 million (approximately 660 billion KRW) in Korea in 2021 and plans to release at least 34 original Korean works this year. According to market research firm Media Partners Asia, Netflix’s recent annual investment in Korea reaches $1 billion (approximately 1.32 trillion KRW).

Bloomberg evaluated, “Netflix initially focused on Japan to grow its business in the Asian market but gradually realized that the key to attracting Asian subscribers lies in Korea.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.