A scene from “Crash Landing On You.” (image: tvN)
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Korean pop culture is gaining popularity in India, where the so-called Korean wave has always struggled to make inroads.
With the onslaught of the coronavirus, Indians are beginning to find new interest in Korean entertainment as they are forced to stay indoors.
For long, India’s Bollywood and the country’s strong preference for traditional culture and Western trends have made it difficult for the Korean Wave to take root.
BTS’s worldwide popularity, however, began to change the country’s perception towards Korean culture as more Indians began to join the K-pop fandom.
The state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) branch in New Delhi reported that the number of active K-pop fans in India has increased by more than 270,000.
When the coronavirus broke out, this trend began to accelerate as more people began to use online channels at home following India’s nationwide blockade to fight the coronavirus spread, allowing them more opportunities to access various K-pop content worldwide.
Now, Korean series such as “Kingdom” and “Crash Landing on You” have made it to ‘today’s top 10’ on Netflix India.
“Korean content is gaining particular interest among India’s young millennials,” said Karan Bedi, CEO of MX Player, an Indian over-the-top (OTT) service platform.
“South Korea’s pursuit for modernism while upholding family values has got the attention of many Indians.”
“India is one of the late-comers to the Korean Wave, but has recently adopted the Korean language as one of the official secondary languages taught in public schools and has been seeing a lot of change,” said Kim Moon-young, KOTRA’s Southwest Asia head.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
