Big Bang, Girls' Generation, and Super Junior Hailed as the Most Popular Idol Groups Abroad

Big Bang leads the pack by being the most popular Korean artists according to foreigners. In a survey organized by the National Assembly of Education, Culture, Sports and the Tourism Committee, it was confirmed that Big Bang is the Korean music act that has achieved the most recognition from fans and music enthusiasts overseas, followed by Girls' Generation and Super Junior.

Oct 17, 2013 08:10 AM BST

TAGㆍBig Bangㆍ Girls Generationㆍ Super Juniorㆍ EXOㆍ TVXQㆍ cnblueㆍ 2NE1ㆍ PSYㆍ 2PMㆍ Shinhwa

In a survey organized by the National Assembly of Education, Culture, Sports and the Tourism Committee, it was confirmed that Big Bang is the Korean music act that has achieved the most recognition from fans and music enthusiasts overseas, followed by Girls' Generation and Super Junior.

The survey, which was also done in collaboration with the Sejong Hakdang Foundation, interviewed 604 foreign students taking up Korean classes.

In the final tabulation, Big Bang came out on the top spot with 18.3% of the votes, followed by SM Entertainment groups Girls' Generation with 15.1%, Super Junior with 13.9%, EXO with 11.1% and TVXQ with 8.9%

PSY took 6^th place with 8.3% of the votes, and followed by fellow YG artists 2NE1 with 7.6%; rock band CNBLUE garnered 6.8%, 2PM 6.4%, and Shinhwa with 5.8%.

As part of the research methodology, the respondents were asked how they got introduced to Korea. 66.1% said that they found out through "K-pop, movie, and drama" and other popular culture. 12% answered that they learned through "Politics, economics, and foreign-related news coverage".

80.2% of students from Asia answered with "K-pop, movie, drama" in response to how they heard about Korea. 56.2% of North and South American gave the same answer as well as 56.4% of the European respondents.

More students in North American, South America, and Europe chose "International games, sports stars, and class" over "Politics, economics, and foreign news coverage."

When asked why they liked Korean pop culture, the most common answer was "Korea's unique pop culture personality" which totalled with 41.1% of the votes.

The respondents showed great interest in pop culture and were thus tasked to identify which one they liked the most by order. Asian students said they liked drama, kpop, and then movie. The North and South Americans and Europeans answered with K-pop, drama, and movie.

TagㆍBig Bangㆍ Girls Generationㆍ Super Juniorㆍ EXOㆍ TVXQㆍ cnblueㆍ 2NE1ㆍ PSYㆍ 2PMㆍ Shinhwa