Seven Out of Ten Overseas Respondents "Favorable Toward Korean Cultural Content"...Expansion Continues in the Americas and Europe
by Lee Jonggil
Published 30 Mar.2026 08:00(KST)
Updated 31 Mar.2026 07:23(KST)
K-Food and Beauty Emerge as Core Pillars Alongside Traditional Content
Negative Perceptions Rise by 6.8% Over Five Years
Audience enjoying the opening performance of the Frankfurt Hallyu Expo. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
원본보기 아이콘Seven out of ten overseas Korean Wave (Hallyu) experiencers expressed a favorable attitude toward Korean cultural content. The scope of K-culture continues to expand, as even regions such as the Americas and Europe-where response had previously been lukewarm-are now showing a marked increase in favorability.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange announced on March 30 the results of the "2026 Overseas Hallyu Survey (as of 2025)," which surveyed 27,400 people with experience in Korean cultural content across thirty overseas regions. This year’s survey newly included countries such as Singapore, Chile, and Poland, and expanded the sample size. New survey items on characters and performances were also introduced to reflect the expanding aspects of the Korean Wave.
The results showed that 69.7% of respondents expressed a favorable view of Korean cultural content. Preference was especially high in Southeast Asia, with the Philippines at 87.0%, India at 83.8%, Indonesia at 82.7%, and Thailand at 79.4%. The largest increases in favorability were observed in the United Kingdom (8.0%), Japan (6.4%), Spain (6.2%), the United States (6.1%), and Australia (6.0%), highlighting notable growth in regions such as the Americas, Europe, and Oceania, where previous acceptance of Hallyu had been relatively low.
By category, the most popular areas were food (55.1%), music (54.0%), beauty (52.6%), drama (51.3%), and film (48.9%). Alongside traditional content sectors like K-pop, dramas, and films, K-food and beauty have become core pillars. The newly introduced character sector recorded a popularity rate of 38.9% and an experience rate of 52.6%, approaching the main categories, while the non-K-pop performance sector (popularity 34.4%, experience 35.1%) was still considered to be in the early stages of growth. K-pop (17.5%) remained the top association with Korea for the ninth consecutive year, while past associations like the Korean War and North Korean nuclear threats dropped out of the top ten.
Familiar names maintained their positions in the most preferred content. In drama, Netflix’s "Squid Game" (12.4%), which concluded with Season 3, topped the list for the fifth consecutive year, followed by new releases such as "When Life Gives You Tangerines" (4.6%) and "The Tyrant’s Chef" (2.1%). In film, "Parasite" (8.4%) held the top spot for the sixth consecutive year. The most influential Hallyu star was BTS (6.9%). Esports player Faker (1.9%) tied for fifth place with IU, demonstrating that the Korean Wave is reaching into the gaming sector.
As the base of Hallyu content broadens, actual consumption indicators have continued to rise. The average monthly consumption time for Korean cultural content increased by 0.7 hours from the previous year to 14.7 hours, and the average expenditure per category rose by $1.2 to $16.6. Excluding Korean language learning (23.8 hours), the longest average consumption times by content were for drama (18.3 hours), variety shows (17.7 hours), and games (16.8 hours). In terms of spending, fashion ($33.9), beauty ($29.7), Korean language ($29.3), and food ($24.9) were the top categories, indicating high spending in both consumer goods and language learning. The percentage of respondents who said that Hallyu influences their purchase of Korean products and services was 64.8%, maintaining an upward trend from 57.9% in 2023 and 63.8% in 2024.
Changes in the media consumption environment were evident in how audiences accessed content. For drama, film, and music, online video services (OTT) and video platforms were the most common channels, while for variety shows, social networking services (SNS) and short-form platforms were dominant. Food, beauty, and fashion were primarily accessed through online and offline retail channels; for food and beauty, user-generated SNS videos and photos with personal reviews attracted interest, while for fashion, products worn by Hallyu stars generated heightened attention.
This survey also examined, for the first time, perceptions of content produced outside Korea but fused with Korean culture, such as "K-Pop Demon Hunters." The top factor in recognizing content as Korean was the inclusion of Korean cultural elements (23.3%), followed by the presence of many Korean people (21.8%) and a Korean setting (19.1%). "Production by a Korean director or company" ranked fourth at 18.0%. This suggests a tendency to prioritize the identity of the content over the nationality of the producer. Regarding Korean content fused with other cultures, positive responses such as "attractive" and "trendy" were both at 60.0%. However, acceptance rates in Europe were lower, around 50% for all items, compared to other continents.
Alongside the spread of Hallyu, negative perceptions have also grown. The rate of agreement with negative views reached 37.5%, up 6.8% from five years ago (2021). This was particularly high in the Middle East (51.1%) and Asia-Pacific (40.2%) regions, and among people in their 20s (42.9%) and 30s (39.5%). The data showed that the more active Hallyu consumption was, the greater the resistance tended to be.
Based on the findings of this survey, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to host comprehensive Hallyu expos, "K-Expo," in countries such as the United States, France, and Mexico, and to expand the overseas promotional centers for Hallyu-related industries, "Korea 360," to the United States and Vietnam, thereby supporting the spread of K-culture.
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