Just thought it would be fun to share who’s interested in Korea by taking a look at the stats from seoulistic.com.
Just a few quick random thoughts on these stats:
The US is because of Kpop?
Korea’s obvious. Seoulistic.com is mad helpful yo!
Singapore I heard Kpop and Kdramas are just mainstream, played in shopping malls and on primetime tv. Dang! True?
Malaysia? I have no idea why Korea’s popular! haha
Philippines, same as Singapore?
Curious! where are you guys from and why you’re interested in Korea/seoulistic.com?
Also, if you have any post suggestions, please let me know! I’m always looking for ideas 🙂
Gyopo Keith 
I’ve been in love with Asia since my dad brought some cloth back to my mom from Okinawa when I was a little girl. I still have the dress my grandmother made from it. Then later, I discovered the dramas and music from Korea; I’ve been hooked ever since. My dream is to visit someday.
Yea it usually starts with a very small thing doesn’t it? Hope you can come soon!
My fascination with Korea started with Starcraft. Then I started teaching myself Korean, listening to Kpop, and watching Kdramas. I am visiting Korea this summer and plan to visit this December. Seoulistic and talktomeinkorean.com have helped me learn a little more about Korean culture. 감사합나다! ^^
I used to be a gamer too! 😀 thanks! hope you enjoy your trip here
Yea for Singapore! Yup they do play K dramas on free to air, pay tv and dvd shops. Lots of Kpop videos being played on the latest laptops at IT stores too. It’s more like K drama with the older crowd. And Kpop and Kdrama with the younger ones. ^^ Korean restaurants has been an in thing recently and also a dedicated Korean street is about to open up at one of the shopping malls in town.
I love Seoulistic cause of its great author and also his tips (cause I’ll be heading down to seoul soon!).
Are you surprised that spore is 3rd on your list?
I was just surfing and watching clips from youtube. I was looking for any videos of Jinri Park because she’s a korean dj in manila and I saw some of your clips. It’s currently 2:09 am and I have to hit the sack.
I live in northeast Tennessee. About 1 1/2 years ago, God placed within me an unquenchable fire to learn Korean, and I have been striving daily to learn it ever since. In trying to learn through the total immersion technique, I found a Korean restaurant only a half-hour drive from my home. In comparing online the different Korean language learning avenues, I found Koreanclass101 (and Keith). I discovered KBS World via satellite, and with it came K-dramas and K-pop. The Korean restaurant led me to find a Korean church, which I visit with my family every week. I purchased an iPhone to have access to apps for learning Korean. I listen to K-pop almost exclusively. I bought a Korean-English Bible with a built in song book. I and my family have learned to love Korean food, and have lunch with our Korean church family every Sunday. When I learned that Keith was no longer with KC101, I searched for news of him on the internet, and found him blogging on Word Press. There I read about Seoulistic.com before it was up and running. I do not know where all of this will lead, but in time God will let me know. Until then, I am consuming (mentally speaking) all things Korean, anticipating the coming time when I will know why I must learn this difficult (for me) language.
Thanks for your story tommy! I’ve heard of a similar story with another online friend, and her Korean is pretty awesome now 🙂
Kdrama is popular in the philippines and I do know a few filipino friends who are very interested in learning hangul or going to korea as a result to watching too much kdrama. I must admit, i am one for those kdrama addicts. 🙂
come to seoul and live the Kdrama my friend 🙂
Annyeong haseyo 🙂 if I’ll get a chance to go home, I’ll visit Korea.
there are bunch of Indians, like few thousand, who are interested in Korean culture, kpop, dramas and everything, and the number is increasing quite rapidly. If you are interested you can search for our groups in facebook. One such group is “Korea India Cultural Expressions” and one more is “India Korea Friends Group”.
I myself am an Indian. I have been learning Korean language for past 3 years now.
Thank you
I’m from The Netherlands and I’m going to Seoul with my sister at the start of July. We’ll be flying to Hong Kong first to visit our relatives and while we’re “nearby” we can as well pop over to Korea. I’ve been to Japan a few times already and although it’s never boring there I want to try something new this time.
It does help with my sister being a K-drama/movies fan so it’s inevitable not to get interested in Korean lifestyle and food. And Lee Buyng Hun…
Since it’s a short trip (4 till 6 nights stay) I’ve bought a Frommers guide on Seoul and the official Korean tourist site is also very helpful on aspects of public transport, life and city highlights etc. but I wanted more info on food and restaurants the locals love, not only the upscale ones serving tourists.
So I’m doing more research now before the Seoul trip and I’ve googled with the words ‘Seoul eating’ and ended up at seouleats.com where I read the article ‘How to Eat in a Korean Restaurant in Korea Like a Local’ and clicked on your name hoping to find more similar food related articles or at least handy tips for foreigners to know when they don’t want to make a fool out of themselves when visiting Seoul first time.
Aside from the research for my holiday trip, it’s also refreshing to read more or less similar life experiences in Asia as an oversea born Asian myself.
As for ideas ‘n suggestions, perhaps you can post more about every day live stuff/troubles you might or might not encounter as an American Korean. (have to say I haven’t checked everything on the site yet)
Oh and more food posts please, from supermarkets (it’s my habit to buy all things weird and unknown in a supermarket in a new country) to convenient stores to food stall in markets. What are the do’s and don’ts when eating from the food stalls, how to behave (you just sit down or wait your turn?), when do you pay, how do you say “I want to take away” when you’ve enthusiastically pointed at too much snacks/dishes?
Keep up the good stuff!
I’m from Dominican Republic, a little Caribbean’s island, I love Korea cause of all kdramas that I’ve seen!! Those handsome boys and cute girls!! And also there so many beautiful places that I really want to visit sometime!!
Here in the Philippines Kdramas are on primetime, afternoon, and even in the morning! 😀 You should see how fast language and culture classes get filled every term at the Korean Cultural Center, like just in a few minutes after posting. It’s really unbelievable!
Hi Keith. I’m Feia from Malaysia. K-drama have been the craze in town since Winter Sonata landed here, around 2002. As for K-pop, the fans are rapidly increasing especially after the first Super Junior concert here a few years back and it never stops! These days the variety shows are super popular here.
With the influences from the dramas and the shows; food, fashion, language, culture, the beautiful places and everything about Korea have become something that must be experienced. Now, we have a lot more Korean language classes and restaurants than ever before and Korea-related events are so common. Traveling to Korea is also a must for Malaysian fans and luckily for us it has become very much affordable since our low cost airline landed there (since 2010).
I have been to Korea a few times and this September, I will be staying there for a longer period attending my formal Korean language study. Hopefully now you have the ideas why Korea is so popular in Malaysia! 🙂
Hello from Africa to be a little more specific
I am Hope from Somalia ….Yes, we got a little Korea obsession here too ….I bet your a little shocked most people are lol but anyways I love your blog….its interesting to read
In general I am in love with South-east Asia and wanted to get to know more about the culture and how life is on the other side of the world. So I started to learn Korean this year through talktomeinkorean.com really helpful and your blog pretty much helped me understand the cultural side of Korea ….so keep going because you got a lot of readers !!!!!
I’m from Egypt and it’s a dream of mine to come and visit Korea.. it started on 2003 back then when I watched Winter Sonata Korean drama on our local TV, I started falling for Korea.. and 2 year ago I started learning Korea and developing my dream to come to Korea 🙂
HI,
I came across your blog because I wanted to know who was the person behind the voice on the learn Korean – Survival Phrases Korean, volume 1: lessons 1-30 audible book.
I live in the U.S. (NYC). I think the reason the U.S. pops up as first is because there are a lot of Koreans living in the States. Also there are 1st and 2nd generation Korean-Americans that probably want to learn Korean and learn more about their culture. Just my guess. There are K-Towns in NYC and in LA, so people who love the food and culture want to learn the language and visit as well … … and then it’s because of K-Pop, lol. 🙂
Australia made the cut! ahaha which is where I’m from. korean-australian~
Only just stumbled across your site after I saw the egyo video on fb and thought it was hilarious, and shared it with some friends. Actually going to Korea in about a week for one of those student and young worker forums for korean-americans/australians/canadians/french/chinese etc. which are like social gatherings/free trips to korea under the guise of a conference… and need to make a short presentation about Australia.. thinking of doing a ‘compare australia to korea’ kind of thing so may be back on your blog for random ideas~
Hello from England. No K-pop or K-drama here but the more I learn about Korea the more fascinated I become. Love your blog and website, you are likely to become my Korea survival guide.
We are from the U.S. My husband is Korean and I realized that he was always assuming that I heard most of the conversations that were taking place at his parents house. They speak random Korean-English sentences and generally I hear 1/3-1/2 of the story. It got frustrating when he would think I knew about going somewhere and I was clueless. He is the Korean guy who understands Korean and answers in English but he doesn’t actually speak it well. I started learning some Korean online and through apps and the kids LOVE IT as well. My son actually made friends with a Korean boy who just moved here and knew no English. They were fast friends. We hope to visit his extended family in Korea once our kids get older. We want them to remember the experience. I’m also in love with kdrama on netflix. Love your site. My husband knows anytime I’m laughing out loud while on the internet, I’m probably reading your stuff.
From North Carolina. KPop started it for me. SuJu’s A-Cha had just come out and I was browsing the ‘Most Viewed’ on YouTube and was wondering what it was. I must have watched it 20 times….I felt like a freak. I didn’t really know what KPop was then and later found EatYourKimchi’s site which got me more interested in the music and culture. And I started learning Korean a few months ago and downloaded a lot of podcasts off iTunes…and your ‘Survival Phrases in Korean’ were the first ones I listened too. I just had to know what you looked like….*ahem* I had high expectations. So I googled my bum off and found Seoulistic and your blog. And several other Korean youtube channels through you. KDramas started later….some days I wonder what has happened to my life haha I watch too many!! Still – I know what is actual reality 🙂
I have only been to Korea once and it was only for two weeks, but it was in 2005, way before my interest began. I do remember the people being super polite…a lot nicer than Americans (IMO). And I remember peach soju. And then I don’t remember peach soju haha. j/k I always wonder about the flavors. In the dramas they never mention the flavors. Is flavored soju popular?
Thanks everyone for telling me where you’re from!!!! It’s really interesting to see people all over the world interested in Korea for whatever reason 😀
I am from A-town (Atlanta, Georgia)! Asia will always be home for me. There aren’t much Asians in Georgia but Korea was introduce to me by k-dramas but now I love the culture, the music, and the fashion.
I’m from Malaysia. And I love Korea too!
Funny thing mines a strange one –> ever heard of Gukurahundi it was a mini scale masacre of Ndebele people in Bulawayo and general Midlands and Matabeleland province in Zimbabwe (country next to South Africa) and I moved to Bulawayo when I was a little girl and always being from Harare (the capital city) I didn’t know what happened in the 80’s but in Ndebele class my teacher would always reference North Korea and Gukurahundi and what soldiers did to families and when I moved back to Harare I was older now (about 12 or 13) and I looked it up “Gukurahundi” and then I wanted to know what the Korean language sounded like so I looked for a song then I fell kinda inlove with K-Pop and I now have been learning Korean for 2 years 🙂 weird but that’s how it started 🙂
I’m Chinese/Viet american and I’ve been into Kpop around the time 1TYM came out. I’m that old lol! Anyway from a Asian american perspective I was easily infatuated with Kpop+Korean entertainment because it was a relief to see somebody that looked Asian taking charge and looking cool, something that has been so absent in US media and HOllywood.
ahaha didn’t mean to get all deep with you but Its my personal reason and strong opinion.
Korean is just awesome man. I’m glad the country took the initiative to become trend setters instead of just following the trend. They have created a cult following instead of following others. I hope Kpop does overtake US music cause really US pop music is all kinds of pooptastic these days.
Speaking about Russia I know lots of people interested in Korea and its culture because of different reasons.. but 2 main things are the following: 1)these people are only girls and 2)all of them think Koreans boys are the handsomest ever)))
as about me i accidently watched a musical video of Shinee “Hello” and my reaction was laughing – i just couldn’t stop laughing the whole day long! why? because it’s absolutely different from what we have – “boysband” in the meaning of a band consisting of handsome guys dancing and being toooo sweet and looking naive, wearing such clothes like in this video doesn’t exist now in Russia – the last one was in 80th i guess.. then i began to watch dramas, then read about culture, found lots of friends from SK and understood that for my Russian mentality probably Koreans are the closest nation – they are easy to get on well. After that I’ve got information about education and work there and so I came to the idea to move in Korea – my parents are absolutely against this idea but i will manage to make it, be sure=)))
P.S. your page and Seoulistic.com are the clearest and nicest pages and though they are kind new there’s already a lot of useful information!
Im from Istanbul !
I’m from germany, and my love for korea first started through k-pop, but as time went by I started to get interested in korea as a country and informed myself about it, like culture, history, government and ll that stuff. Now I want to study korean studies when i finish school^^
Hi, I’m from Malaysia..you ask why Korea is popular here in Malaysia? Well, part of it due to the all Kdrama & Kpop…if i’m not mistaken, the drama that introduce Korea to Malaysian is Winter Sonata? Then Autumn in My Heart? as for the Kpop, I think it’s TVXQ? My friends & I are used to be really really crazy about all the Kdrama & Kpop things…but as we grow old, i’m more interested in the Korean language & culture. I think Malaysia love to visit Korea because of the Kpop which is one of the main reason I guess..but most of them said they will visit Korea again because of the food & the people & there are so many things to see…that’s my opinion…anyway…your website is really a great help for those who were planning to visit Korea or for anyone who wants to know about Korea & it’s culture…keep up the good work bro! ^^
While going through a rough time, my sister introduced me to Kdramas. The differences in culture and the language became therapeutic in a way. I fell in love with the expressiveness of the actors in the movies and shows. It makes me feel good to listen to Koreans speak. So I joined koreanclass101.com, where I found you, Keith, and that led me to here. Your way of teaching is awesome. I even go to a Korean church.
I am from Ohio, but have moved around a lot (dad’s a Baptist preacher, and I am former Air Force). No, I wasn’t stationed in Korea, in fact I never left the US. Perhaps that lack of travel had left a desire to see more. However, about eight months or so ago I was watching random YouTube videos and letting the Recommended Videos take me along. Well I stumbled onto Eat Your Kimchi channel. This caught my interest because they were a white North American couple living in Seoul talking about the culture differences. So I could understand what they meant. So I subscribed. Then through watching their channel, I found Seoulstic and TTMIK/TTMIE and just kept wanting to learn. I got Rosetta Stone and am attempting to learn the language, but more as a passing hobby right now. Oddly enough, at this same time, basically the same thing has happened to me with Germany. So now I’m learning Korean and German, and wanting to travel. Though my German is coming along MUCH better lol. I still can’t tell if the sounds being used are g/k b/p etc etc. I’ll blame it on working on B-52s, jets took my hearing lol.
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