Beyond BTS: The Korean Wave's India story
Live Events When culture becomes commerce When cinemas stopped being just cinemas From skincare shelves to supermarket aisles Learning Hangul, chasing Korea as a Reliable
Live Events When culture becomes commerce When cinemas stopped being just cinemas From skincare shelves to supermarket aisles Learning Hangul, chasing Korea as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Addas a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel For decades, South Korea's biggest exports to India were easy to identify: Samsung smartphones, LG televisions and refrigerators, Hyundai cars and Kia SUVs.Today, South Korea is selling India far more than electronics and cars. Korean skincare fills shelves at Nykaa and Tira. Kimchi, ramyeon and gochujang are now stocked by supermarkets and quick-commerce platforms. BTS concert screenings are drawing packed multiplexes.Much of this shift can be traced back to seven young men singing in a language most Indians did not understand.In January 2020, BTS ranked just 68th among English music listeners on JioSaavn, with around 780,000 streams. By October that year, as the pandemic pushed millions towards streaming platforms, the South Korean boy band had climbed to eighth place with more than 2.3 million streams, according to the Korean Cultural Centre India. India later emerged as BTS' second-largest YouTube market globally, generating nearly 778 million views in 2023, according to Statista.However, reducing India's Korean obsession to BTS alone misses the bigger story.South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's visit to New Delhi in April this year was more than a routine diplomatic meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It highlighted India's growing push to attract large-scale foreign direct investment (FDI) from South Korea, particularly in advanced manufacturing, technology and infrastructure.During the visit, India and South Korea agreed to resume talks on upgrading their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) as both countries seek to boost trade, strengthen supply chains and deepen cooperation in critical technologies.PM Modi had said the two countries are working to build resilient ecosystems "from chips to ships", covering technology, energy and advanced manufacturing.For South Korean companies, culture has become more than soft power. It has become a powerful commercial engine.Long before BTS became a household name, South Korean companies had already built a formidable presence in India.The momentum is still visible on Indian roads, where Hyundai and Kia together account for roughly one in every five passenger vehicles sold, according to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) wholesale sales data, underscoring how Korean brands have become deeply embedded in the country's consumer landscape.Samsung, meanwhile, remains one of India's largest smartphone makers and manufacturers, using the country as both a major market and an export base.India-South Korea bilateral trade has climbed to around $25.6 billion, while Seoul has emerged as a significant long-term investor with cumulative foreign direct investment exceeding $10 billion, spanning automobiles, electronics, steel and consumer goods, according to data published by the Indian Embassy in Seoul.Myong Kil Yun, Regional Director – India & SAARC Countries, Korea Tourism Organization, said in March at an event that India remains an important and high-potential market for Korea’s tourism industry and they aim to welcome around 270,000 Indian visitors in 2026.Companies such as LG are already expanding their manufacturing footprint in India, reinforcing the country's position as a long-term production and export base rather than just a consumer market.India-Korea talks in April also explored fresh investment opportunities for other Korean manufacturers, particularly in electronics and components.Shipbuilding emerged as another key area of cooperation.
The BriefWire