As Netflix wrapped up the year, it took time to reflect on the year's close and examined the K-culture phenomenon that spread worldwide from Squid Game to K-pop Demon Hunters.
At the Netflix Insight event held by Netflix on Dec. 23 at Anderson C in Seongsu, Seoul, changes in the global cultural landscape brought by K-content were the focus of discussion.
External experts including Yoo Hyun-joon, a professor at Hongik University, and Kim Sook-young, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, participated in the event and analyzed the powerful ripple effects K-content has had on the consumption habits and lifestyles of the global Millennials and Gen Z across borders. Through this event, Netflix reviewed the process by which the Korean wave moved beyond a temporary fad to become a sustainable global cultural code and presented the potential for K-content to continue expanding into 2026.
In particular, it emphasized that K-culture has become part of routine cultural consumption among young people in the United States. Professor Kim Sook-young said, "According to a YouGov survey, the top 20 most-streamed Korean dramas in the U.S. that viewers can find on Netflix include Squid Game, The Glory, Kingdom and other Korean content," and she explained, "In another survey by 2CV, among viewers who watched K-content, the proportion who said their perception of Korea changed positively also placed the United States third out of eight countries." For reference, the most-streamed Korean dramas in the U.S. are ranked: 1st Squid Game, 2nd The Glory, 3rd All of Us Are Dead, 4th Kingdom, 5th Sweet Home, 6th Extraordinary Attorney Woo, 7th 환혼, 8th King the Land, 9th The Silent Sea, and 10th Crash Landing on You.
Professor Kim noted that this shows Netflix, which is driving K-drama consumption in the United States, is leading to the formation of positive perceptions of Korea.
Professor Kim continued by citing characteristics of the U.S. Millennials and Gen Z, who drive actual consumption trends, as the background for the spread of the Korean wave in the United States. She explained that those who grew up in an uncertain environment marked by economic hardship since the 2000s, COVID-19 and global conflicts were raised under relatively constrained conditions compared with previous generations, value rational consumption while being open to new cultures, and have satisfied their cravings through online spaces.
Thanks to these generational characteristics, K-culture was able to settle naturally into the daily lives of U.S. Millennials and Gen Z beyond a one-off trend, and this flow supports the sustainability of the Korean wave, she said. She added that for continued momentum, it is important to strengthen competitiveness through diversity across genres and formats, along with the everyday expansion of K-content and K-lifestyle.
The panel discussion brought together stakeholders handling the Korean wave across various industries, including cultural distribution and trade, to view the spread of the Korean wave from a more multifaceted perspective. The discussion included Seo-eun Lee, deputy head of product distribution strategy at the National Museum Foundation of Korea (NMF), and Lee Sang-yoon, Hallyu project manager at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), as panelists. The panelists shared changes in the spread of the Korean wave they felt in their respective fields and discussed how Korean culture is connecting beyond content to consumer goods, distribution and exports across industries. Among the main discussion topics were the modern reinterpretation and commodification of cultural assets, changes in global market demand and the industrial ripple effects.
National Museum Foundation of Korea (NMF): first-ever 5 million visitors breakthrough, 'national museum boom' and the 'MU:DS' syndrome
As of the end of Oct. 2025, cumulative visitors to the National Museum of Korea surpassed 5.01 million for the first time in history. Sales of the museum goods MU:DS surged 85% year over year, surpassing 30.6 billion won, proving explosive popularity as open runs and dawn queues continued.
The foundation cited the global success of K-content as one of the biggest factors behind this phenomenon. In July, immediately after the release of the Netflix film K-pop Demon Hunters, MU:DS sales doubled compared with the previous month of June. A virtuous cycle formed in which museum visits to see artifacts featured in the content (for example, the Joseon-era folk painting 'Hojakdo') naturally led to goods purchases.
Along with efforts to make the museum more popular (such as immersive exhibitions), the foundation used a strategy of 'remarketing' artifacts into modern daily items with added storytelling and wit rather than simply reproducing them. (For example: a temperature-sensitive soju cup featuring Pyeongyanggamsahyangyeondo.) The in-house design team is directly involved from design to production to maintain MU:DS standards and tone, while external workshops and small and medium-sized enterprises are selected through public contests and provided with sales channels. Through this, the foundation simultaneously secured "consistent messaging and quality (internal)" and "variety and high quality (external)," increasing both consumer choices and satisfaction.
The foundation analyzed that based on trust in the quality of Korean-made products, overseas consumers make purchases when artifact narratives and stories derived from Korean culture are combined. In other words, products are chosen not because they were made in Korea but because they come from Korean culture and the product quality provides accountability.
KOTRA: a bridge connecting Korean culture and industry, KOTRA's Hallyu expo
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held the first Hallyu expo in New York this November. According to KOTRA, about 20,000 visitors attended the New York Hallyu Expo, and on-site agreements and business deals totaling $11 million were reached.
The Hallyu expo, which combines the Korean wave with export marketing to diversify consumer goods export markets locally overseas and raise awareness of small and medium-sized companies' products among overseas consumers and buyers, marked its 25th year this year. Timed with the heyday of the Korean wave represented by the Netflix film K-pop Demon Hunters, it was held in North America for the first time to enhance synergy between K-culture and consumer goods' overseas advancement and to boost the premium image.
KOTRA said, "Recently, K-culture and consumer goods have been hot in North America. In the wake of the K-content boom, K-beauty led the U.S. cosmetics import market share in 2024, and manufacturers of cosmetic ingredients and finished goods have followed into the market." It added, "The United States is the largest export market for K-food; led by ramen and gim, food exports to the U.S. have surged at an average annual rate of 10% over the past decade."
KOTRA also said it held Hallyu expos in Cambodia and Kazakhstan in the first half of this year, and held expos in New York in November and Kuala Lumpur in December back to back, showing a direction of enhancing the image of Korea as a cultural power and diversifying export markets for K-consumer goods. In particular, it plans to expand opportunities for Hallyu star and culture-linked marketing that are difficult for small and medium-sized companies to pursue alone.
[Photo] Netflix
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