K-Pop and Education Migration to Korea in the Digitalised COVID-19 Era

Sunghyun Park, Storm Schutte and Sungwoo Park ()
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Sunghyun Park: Graduate School of Communication & Art, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea
Storm Schutte: Office Harbour, Research & Innovation, Seoul 06017, Republic of Korea
Sungwoo Park: Department of Global Media and Communication Arts, Woosong University, Daejeon 34606, Republic of Korea

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between K-Pop and education migration to South Korea in the context of the global internet and the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on the phenomenon in which local Asian territories have been widely influenced by the Korean Wave, particularly K-Pop, even during the era of global communication and health risks. This research illuminates some intriguing aspects of the distinctive reception patterns of Korean Wave audiences, as well as their unique characteristics, such as innocence, transgression, and the nuanced dynamics of the fandom during that period. Furthermore, this research engages critically with controversial aspects of cultural politics, such as the transmission of the legacy of K-Pop and the centralisation of femininity more actively. This study concludes that K-Pop has recently been relocated to the conjunctures of mediated and overdetermined influences on students’ education migration to South Korea rather than acting as a direct power and reason for it, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid digitalisation of education.

Keywords: K-Pop; education migration; Korean Wave; digitalisation; globalisation; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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