K-pop’s global popularity draws foreign students to South Korea universities
The craze for Korean pop music has spurred a rise in the number of young people going to South Korea to study – from countries such as France, Sweden and the US as well as the country’s Asian neighbours
By Kang Hyun-kyung
K-pop has gone viral in North America, Europe and the Middle East, paving the way for a music craze in regions where the genre was once seen as a foreign novelty.
Now South Korea's “cultural invasion” has spurred rare demographic changes in the country – there are more foreign students in South Korea and their nationalities are more diverse.
About a decade ago, Asians, mostly Chinese, dominated international student rosters. In 2017, France became one of the top 12 countries sending 1,000 or more students to South Korea. K-pop migrants are behind the changing demographics on campuses.
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Paulina Bonnevier, 22, a Swedish student attending Seoul National University, says K-pop was the key driver behind her decision to study in Korea. “I would have never been interested in Korea without K-pop,” she says. “K-pop was like the door that opened up for my visit to Korea.”