Read the following text and answer the quiz below.
[1] “Your hips need to push outward while your solar plexus goes down. You do a slight jump in this movement,” a professional dance instructor said to a room of struggling students. About 20 foreigners had gathered at 1Million Dance Studio in Seoul’s Seongdong district on a recent Sunday to learn the introductory choreography for the girl group Katseye’s track “Gameboy”.
[2] The studio draws a diverse crowd of international visitors. Rachel, a German woman in her 20s, visited with a friend. “I used to learn and dance to hip-hop music in a university club in Germany,” she said. “But I developed an interest in K-pop and came with a friend who is staying in Korea as an exchange student.”
[3] Instructor Cho Soo-yeon said foreign nationals now account for about 70 per cent of the studio’s beginner hobby classes. “It seems many people want to feel a sense of accomplishment and build self-esteem while learning K-pop dance,” Cho said.
[4] This active participation highlights a new wave in K-tourism driven by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, demographics that prefer immersive experiences. Global travel platform Klook reported a 31.4 per cent increase in traffic for domestic cultural tourism experiences targeting foreigners last year.
[5] A Klook official said the platform’s data shows a clear shift away from Seoul’s historical landmarks such as Gyeongbokgung Palace and shopping districts like Myeong-dong. Instead, tourists are booking active experiences, including dance classes, broadcast studio tours, visits to the demilitarised zone and K-drama-themed packages.
[6] The desire to actively experience K-pop also extends to singing. Tourists are booking studio experience packages that include vocal coaching from former K-pop singers or vocal trainers and even the option to record their own songs. Singing K-pop at a noraebang, or Korean-style karaoke, is rapidly becoming a mandatory tourist activity.
[7] The hit Netflix animation KPop Demon Hunters has also played a critical role in expanding this tourism demographic from diehard K-pop fans to the general public. In its “2025 Inbound Tourism Trend” report, the tourism platform Creatrip identified this phenomenon as the “K-Dive” trend. The report notes that the massive popularity of KPop Demon Hunters has driven an increase in foreign reservations for experiences, including visits to public baths and traditional dining spots.
[8] K-content has become a primary engine for South Korea’s inbound tourism. According to the Korea Tourism Organisation, the proportion of foreign tourists citing K-content as their primary motivation for visiting the country rose from 32.1 per cent in 2023 to 41.8 per cent in the first quarter of last year.
[9] This demand will be heavily tested in the first half of this year as the globally renowned boy band BTS returns after a four-year hiatus. The group kicked off the first of six concerts in South Korea as part of their Arirang world tour, starting at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun on March 21.
Source: The Korea Times, March 9
Content provided by British Council
