For at least a couple of decades, Korean pop music -- K-pop, of course -- has been steadily winning fans all over the world.
But 2018 was a breakout year for the genre.
It's hard to overstate how big K-pop was this year internationally... with Korean artists blazing new trails overseas and reaching new highs on the Billboard charts.
And it's not just the catchy tunes -- it's also the messages the Korean pop idols send through their songs.
In fact, the hottest boyband, BTS, even made it to the UN General Assembly, giving a speech on the UN Youth Strategy of the UNICEF campaign.
Our Won Jung-hwan zeroes in on their smashing success this year and what to expect in the new year.
While the Korean music industry has increasingly grown in recognition around the globe and has had isolated big successes in the past,… it wasn't until this year that K-pop has truly been recognized as a major player in the global music industry.
And at the center of that success,… was Korean boy band BTS.
No longer restricted to niche audiences outside of Asia as it had typically been thought to be in the past,… the Korean wave, led by BTS, has come on in leaps and bounds.
The seven-member K-pop act broke global records and achieved milestones that had never before been reached by Korean musicians.
Their songs such as 'Fake Love' and 'IDOL' placed in the top 20 of the Billboard 100 singles chart and spread the Korean wave to the furthest corners of the globe.
But it wasn't just the songs that grabbed people’s attention,... BTS were able to inspire young people by being the first ever K-pop artists to address the United Nations, and by helping launch UNICEF's "Generation Unlimited", an education and employment program for young people.
While BTS's global success is likely to continue for some years to come,… online video sharing platforms are expected to be the next driver of the Korean wave.
Video sharing platforms such as YouTube have contributed to the Korean wave's surge in worldwide popularity since the mid-2000s,… but with such unprecedented growth in popularity within Korea in 2018, it is likely that the next leading global Korean stars will emerge from such platforms.
YouTube in Korea has quickly become one of the most popular sources of entertainment in the country, and Korean Youtubers have found remarkable global success in 2018, with many seeing their subscribers and views skyrocket.
In November, Korean singer J.Fla, best known for her covers of pop songs, surpassed 10 million subscribers, making her the first local independent YouTuber to hit that number in Korea.
So with the rise in popularity of YouTube in the country,... the new K-wave could be led by emerging stars from such non-mainstream channels in 2019.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.
