A still cut from K-Pop Demon Hunters. (Image courtesy of Netflix)
SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — A new analysis of online reactions to Netflix’s animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters has identified music and Korean cultural identity as the two central forces behind the film’s worldwide success.
The study, released Wednesday by the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation (KOBACO), was conducted by media researcher Baek Hyun-mi of Korea University and her team. Using RACOI — the Broadcasting Content Value Information Analysis System — the researchers tracked online conversations from June through August to examine how public interest in the film spread.
According to the report, online buzz expanded in “three waves.” The first began immediately after the film’s release, driven by the novelty of seeing a K-pop universe rendered in animation.
The second wave followed the film’s original soundtrack entering the Billboard charts and rising fan engagement. A third surge came with offline events such as a Seoul drone show and a sing-along screening at the Busan International Film Festival, along with new Netflix viewership milestones.
A scene from K-Pop Demon Hunters, in which characters eat an entire roll of kimbap in one bite, has sparked a flood of TikTok challenges and Instagram reels. (Screenshot from TikTok accounts ‘cookingWITHfred’, ‘Weebgast’, Image courtesy of Netflix)
The keywords most associated with the film online were “song” and “Korea,” underscoring music and Korean identity as its core appeal. Early reactions were dominated by praise for the soundtrack, prompting fans to produce cover videos, challenges, and other user-generated content that created a “virtuous cycle” of attention and engagement.
Mentions of “Korea” grew as viewers highlighted the film’s use of traditional elements — including tigers, magpies and gimbap — which fostered expressions of national pride.
As the online conversation evolved, keywords such as “support” and “the best” gained traction, reflecting the expansion of interest from music-focused excitement to broader cultural appreciation and fandom activity.
The tiger character Duffy and the protagonist Lumi from K-Pop Demon Hunters. President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea cited the tiger ‘Duffy’ and the Grim Reaper as the most striking characters. Tigers once thrived across the Korean Peninsula, but indiscriminate hunting led by the Japanese during the colonial era drove them to extinction in Korea. (Image courtesy of Netflix)
Topic modeling of online posts revealed five major themes: the popularity of the OST, representation of Korean culture, global success, affection for characters and spillover effects.
These findings reaffirmed the central roles of the soundtrack and Korean cultural motifs while also highlighting the film’s broader cultural ripple effects — including fan art, cover songs, parodies, tourism interest and brand collaborations.
Baek said the film has served as “a moment of confirmation” that global interest in K-culture now extends far beyond K-pop. She added that Korea needs strategies to turn this attention into a sustainable cultural trend rather than a short-lived wave.
Saja Boys from K-Pop Demon Hunters (Image source: YouTube capture from ‘Netflix Korea’ video)
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
