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Seoul – Shekinah Yawra had no choice but to sleep in a South Korean jjimjilbang, a 24-hour brothel, after every hotel near the center of Seoul was sold out at the end of March.
But sleep was second nature for the 32-year-old Filipino who went to Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square at 7am to find a place in a crowd that city officials say will number in the hundreds of thousands.
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It was all just a glimpse of the seven-member K-pop group BTS, who returned to the stage on March 21 after nearly four years of absence due to their regular military service.
Although he failed to get one of the 22,000 free tickets to BTS’s first comeback concert at the stadium, Yawra was still happy to stand on the sidelines and watch the concert on the big screen set up for the occasion.
“We all came for this,” he told Al Jazeera, describing how friends flew from the Philippines overnight to attend the concert.
Worldwide, more than 18.4 million viewers watched the concert’s Netflix video.
It’s an approximation 30 million followers worldwide – who call themselves BTS ARMY – the K-pop group is the most visible symbol of the “Hallyu”, or “Korean Wave”, and the global rise of interest in the popular culture of South Korea and the money paid for it.
In late March, BTS’s 10th album, Arirang, topped the charts in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom, the world’s three biggest markets. A world tour of the group is expected generates more than $1.4bn in finance in more than 80 exhibitions in 23 countries.
At home, tourist arrivals in the first 18 days of March rose 32.7 percent from last month, according to the Ministry of Justice, as the comeback concert approached and hotel prices rose in central Seoul amid demand for rooms.
In the week leading up to the concert, sales of BTS merchandise — from BTS lights to blankets — jumped 430 percent at the Shinsegae Duty Free store in central Seoul, the company said.
During the weekend of the concert, sales also increased 30 percent at Lotte Department Store and 48 percent at Shinsegae as a whole, compared to the same week in March last year, in 2025.
By 2022, the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI) – a government-backed think tank and research organization – estimates that a single BTS concert in Seoul could generate 1.2 trillion won ($798m) in total revenue.
KCTI researcher Yang Ji-hoon told Al Jazeera that the pattern of the crowd at the BTS comeback event in Gwanghwamun Square shows the uniqueness of fandom-driven tourism. More than half of the people who attended the concert were visitors from other countries and many had to travel long distances to attend.
“In Europe and the United States, the movement is more stable in its parts,” Yang said.
“Therefore, in order for people to overcome such obstacles and come to South Korea, it often requires more than just general encouragement or general spending – it’s not something that happens easily,” he said.
The transition of K-pop to the world
The scale of BTS’s return to the entertainment world reflects a growing government-backed strategy.
When music promoter Hybe asked the city of Seoul to sponsor a comeback concert in Gwanghwamun square, government officials agreed on grounds of public interest, viewing the event as a showcase of national culture.
For the official event, more than 10,000 government personnel were deployed to provide security, transportation and public control.
According to information released by the South Korean publication Sisain, through a public information request to the Seoul government, 130 million yuan ($87,400) of the city’s budget was spent as part of the concert’s preparations.
The South Korean government’s support for BTS is exemplary.
As members of the boy band approach South Korea’s mandatory military age, policymakers have discussed a special exemption for BTS members, who are said to be they earn $4.65bn a year to the country’s economy.
After the upcoming BTS concerts in Mexico City were sold out in just 37 minutes, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to “bring more famous K-pop artists”, saying that about a million fans in Mexico tried to get 150,000 tickets.
South Korea’s cultural influence extends beyond music as well.
South Korea’s cosmetics exports exceeded $11bn last year, according to international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which surpassed France in exporting cosmetics to the US, while South Korean food and agricultural products reached $13.6bn, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
KCTI researcher Yang described the growing interest as part of the “transition to internationalization”, where South Korean products are recognized worldwide and the results are measured by international indicators such as the Billboard charts and the Academy Awards.
He also warned that structural changes are necessary to suit South Korea’s interests.
“As the industry expands, it also has to adapt to its processes, infrastructure, and workforce,” he said.
“Instead of focusing on direct financial support, future government policies should focus on strengthening the infrastructure – such as improving workplaces, combating injustices, building appropriate infrastructure, and implementing accounting and data systems,” he said.
Politicians seem to be paying attention.
During his election last year, President Lee proposed the next phase of cultural growth as “Hallyu (Korean Wave) 4.0”, with promises of expanding the sector to 300 trillion won ($203bn) and 50 trillion won ($34bn) in foreign trade.
In line with this vision, the government established a budget to promote “K-content”, support the sector of “white” art and strengthen all sectors related to culture at a successful cost of 9.6 trillion ($ 6.5bn) – reflecting the president’s views on culture as a national business and not a private market.
South Korea’s strategy seems to be working well.
South Korea is now ranked 11th in the world in “soft power”, according to Brand Finance’s Global Soft Power Index, ranking the country as “popular in the arts and entertainment” and “the world’s favorite product and brand”, behind the US, France, the United Kingdom and Japan.
The dark side of K-pop: The pressure to be a good idol
Amidst the global success, the dark side of the K-culture industry has come under intense scrutiny.
Mega-promoter Hybe has long been feuding with K-pop’s New Jeans, a group that has been tipped to replace BTS and their all-female counterparts Blackpink. The public legal dispute that began in 2024 reflects the industry’s struggles over talent management and professional autonomy.
Since the early 2000s, K-pop has also struggled with “slavery contracts”, or agreements that severely restrict artists’ rights. Although changes to the Fair Trade Commission have improved the protection of performers, the union’s obligations in the K-pop industry are forcing new performers and their strict standards have long been written.
Ever since they were trained, aspiring idols endure a grueling schedule that includes long work days and little sleep.
Many high-profile stars often face restrictions on social media contracts, using their phones or dating. They are also limited in what they can say publicly, relying on corporate-controlled messages to communicate with fans and the media.
Although the rise of social media and other social media has opened up new ways of direct exposure and interaction in recent years, concerns about burnout and depression have continued to plague the industry, with several top stars committing suicide.
Beauty standards associated with K-culture have also been another source of controversy.
2024 report of the South Korean economy website Uppity found that 98 percent of the 1,283 people who were asked who were born between 1980 and 2000 considered the appearance of the body to be among the “good qualities” that a person can have.
About 40 percent of the respondents in the survey had undergone cosmetic surgery, and more than 90 percent had a neutral or positive opinion about medical treatment for beauty.
According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, South Korea has the highest number of procedures in the world, with 8.9 per 1,000 people compared to 5.91 per 1,000 in the US and just 2.13 per 1,000 in neighboring Japan.
Yoo Seung-chul, a professor of media studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said K-culture has reinforced beauty as an important personal and social issue.
“K-culture has strengthened the norms and tools of self-expression,” Yoo told Al Jazeera.
“With the rise of websites that cover topics like plastic surgery, discrimination has been decreasing among young audiences in their teens and twenties,” said Yoo, explaining that popular plastic surgery platforms such as Unni have made this possible by connecting people to clinics and reviewing their clinics.
At the same time, globalization has also changed the K-culture industry itself. Many new K-pop acts now include members from around the world to add to the appeal.
Hybe has expanded this strategy through its US subsidiary, Hybe America, and created global groups like Katseye, which has one South Korean member in its six-girl group.
The change has sparked controversy.
Even BTS’s latest album Arirang – a tribute to South Korea’s most popular song – has divided fans over the use of English lyrics and foreign producers.
“K-content is being created with a global audience from the beginning. In film, there has been a noticeable rise in genres such as horror and science fiction, which are easy to export internationally,” said Yoo.
“This international trend is also reflected in K-pop agencies recruiting foreigners to idol groups,” he said.
But international audiences don’t always like Korea, Yoo said, adding that many are attracted to the “ideology” of K-pop.
As audiences increasingly seek authenticity, Yoo argues that the industry is facing challenges.
“Industries and companies need to know how to maintain local knowledge and effectively market to global audiences,” added Yoo.
“This success will be very important in creating the next phase of Korean products.”
