[Kulture Issue] KCON LA 2025 and the current status of K-culture in the U.S.

The presidents of South Korea and the U.S. are getting together for a bilateral summit in Washington this Monday, local time.

Alongside all the trade and security issues being discussed, cultural cooperation may also come up on the back of the growing popularity of the K-wave in the U.S..

In fact, the interest in Korean culture, be it in K-pop, K-food, or K-beauty could recently be felt at a flagship K-pop festival in Los Angeles, KCON LA.

We now connect to an expert who was at the event. It’s Grace Kao, IBM Professor of Sociology at Yale University. Hello Professor Kao!

More than 125,000 people gathered for KCON LA 2025 earlier this month. Professor Kao, you were there yourself and wrote an article on your experience. Which performances did you watch over the three-day event and what was the most memorable part?

Los Angeles has even designated August 1st as "KCON Day". How did this come about and how significant is this?

When did K-pop really take off in the U.S., how popular is it right now and why do you think that is? More and more K-pop concerts are being held due to the increase in demand, right?

Now let’s shift gears from K-pop and performances to K-dramas and K-movies. It's become quite common to see Korean actors holding fan meetings in the U.S. So, how well known are Korean productions and which actors have the biggest fandoms?

When it comes to cultural exchange between Korea and the U.S., in the past, this took the form of Korea largely accepting American pop culture. However, now the U.S. is also rapidly embracing Korean culture. In which field is this most apparent?

Back to KCON. Small and medium-sized companies related to beauty, lifestyle, food and fashion participated in the "K-COLLECTION with KCON" event. How much attention are these Korean cultural items receiving in addition to K-pop and K-dramas?

K-pop is no longer limited to being songs sung by Korean singers in Korean. You can see this in "KPop Demon Hunters" for instance.

From the perspective of a sociologist and someone who loves K-pop what is your outlook on the future of K-pop and its influence?

Thank you very much for your insights Professor Kao, have a great start to the week.

Thank you Walter, see you back tomorrow.