The results of the 2025 Hallyu Survey, announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in collaboration with the Korea Institute for International Culture Exchange, revealed that K-pop continues to be the most commonly associated image in foreign minds when Korea is mentioned. 17.8% of survey participants chose K-pop as the image that most represents Korea, securing BTS’s position as the top-ranking image for seven consecutive years.
Study Details
The survey, which surveyed 26,400 people from 28 countries abroad, revealed a series of interesting results that demonstrate the growing popularity of Korean culture. Among other cultural forms after K-pop, Korean food ranked second (11.8%), followed by drama (8.7%), beauty (6.4%), and movies (5.6%). While Korean tech brands (5.1%) fell to sixth place after having been in the top five since 2012.
Interest in Korean Culture
The study showed that 70.3% of foreigners who had experienced Korean culture found it attractive, a 1.5% increase from last year. Among these cultures, the Korean language was the most attractive. 75.4% of participants expressed their admiration for it, with the highest levels of admiration in the Philippines (88.9%) and Indonesia (86.5%).
Negative Views on Korean Culture
While many participants expressed their admiration for Korean culture, the percentage expressing opposition to Hallyu also increased, with 37.5% of participants expressing negative views of the phenomenon, a 4.9% increase from last year.
BTS Leads the 2025 Hallyu Wave
In the K-pop field, BTS continued to dominate global preferences, capturing 24.6% of the votes, followed by Blackpink with 12.3%. They were followed by other groups, including TWICE and solo artist Psy, while the new generation of Korean artists continued to gain significant public attention.
2025 Hallyu Results:
Among the favorite Korean actors, Lee Min-ho (7.0%) held the top spot for 12 consecutive years since 2014, while Jung Yoo (2.4%), Kim So-hyun (2.3%), and Ma Dong-seok (1.5%), the leading actors in hit films in 2024, also rose in the rankings.
Among artists/groups, BTS (24.6%) and BLACKPINK (12.3%) ranked first and second for the seventh and sixth consecutive years, respectively, followed by IU (3.1%), PSY (2.2%), and TWICE (1.8%). The online survey was conducted from November 29 to December 27 of last year, targeting 26,400 people with experience with Korean cultural content in 28 countries.
