North Korea threat still overshadows K-culture: Survey

Soldiers collect the contents of a trash-carrying balloon sent by North Korea that landed in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, July 24. (Yonhap)

Despite the rapid rise of South Korea's cultural and artistic presence on the global stage -- driven by the growth of K-pop, films, and dramas -- a recent survey reveals that the dominant image foreigners associate with Korea is still the threat from North Korea.

The survey, released on Wednesday by the Corea Image Communication Institute, found that 83.9 percent of foreign respondents identified North Korea's security threat as their foremost association with Korea. This starkly contrasts with the 84.7 percent of Korean respondents, who primarily viewed Korea as a cultural powerhouse. Only 30.1 percent of foreigners considered Korea as a cultural leader.

When asked about their preferences for Korean-related products, 65.4 percent of Koreans chose K-beauty cosmetics as their top choice, while 78.7 percent of foreigners favored Korean food.

Regarding the most popular K-culture sectors on online streaming platforms, 88.3 percent of Koreans selected dramas and movies, whereas 89.1 percent of foreign respondents chose K-pop.

As for areas of improvement to expand K-culture's global influence, 83.4 percent of Koreans emphasized the need to nurturing creative talent, while 91.9 percent of foreigners highlighted the importance of localization and overcoming language barriers.

One area of agreement between Korean and foreign respondents was the importance of developing youth sports for the globalization of Korean sports. This view was shared by 72.6 percent of Korean and 90.5 percent of foreign respondents.

In terms of what most intrigued foreigners about Korean culture, the low risk of losing one's possessions ranked highest at 83.0 percent, followed by early morning delivery services at 50.0 percent.

The survey, conducted from July 26 to Aug. 13, involved 435 participants, including 223 Koreans and 212 foreigners, who responded via email and web links.

By Lee Jung-youn(jy@heraldcorp.com)