The global impact and popularity of Kpop is growing stronger, which is reflected through the number of foreign Kpop trainees.
According to an article by The Korea Herald, almost 30% of Kpop trainees under HYBE Labels – the company behind trending idol groups such as BTS, SEVENTEEN, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, TXT, and ENHYPEN – are not from Korea.
In particular, HYBE stated in response to an inquiry that there are approximately 28% of trainees under its various labels who doesn’t have Korean nationalities, which means that around a third of HYBE’s Kpop trainees are not from Korea
Regarding this, HYBE emphasized that they don’t have any specific strategy aimed at raising the number foreign Kpop trainees. In addition, the label doesn’t disclose the number of foreign trainees or proportion of trainees by country.
On the other hand, The Korea Herald also contacted SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment regarding the percentage of their non-Korean trainees, but the three responded that such information is confidential.
On the other hand, associate professor Lee Gyu Tak, who specializes in the globalization of Kpop, considers the proportion of trainees without Korean nationalities at HYBE to be remarkably high.
At the same time, he explained that non-Korean members have contributed to the success of various Kpop groups, such as BLACKPINK, EXO, or SEVENTEEN.
The inclusion of non-Korean nationals help to expand Kpop’s reach, as well as increase the appeal to a wider range of audience, the professor said.
Source: The Korea Herald
