Soompi is a driving force behind the growth of the Korean wave

Soompi is the world's largest English online media that provides overseas K-Pop fans with up-to-date coverage on K-Pop culture. Soompi's headlines include such things as: "Wonder Girls' 'Nobody' enters the U.S. Billboard top 100 singles chart for the first time in K-Pop history," "Big Bang member Taeyang's first solo album Solar ranked second in the U.S. iTunes R&B sales chart," "Kara, Jang Geun-suk and Girls' Generation in the Oricon's top 50 singles chart in the first half of 2011," and "SM Town's successful debut in the U.S. and Europe," to cite only a few.

Soompi (http://www.soompi.com/)

Opened as a personal webpage by Korean-American Susan Kang in 1998, Soompi has played an essential role in introducing Korean dramas and music to the world. At first, its visitors were mostly Koreans residing in foreign nations, with over 1.2 million people visiting the site. Currently, however, the majority of its members are non-Koreans in the United States, Canada, Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia, among others. Some 6 million people log on to the site every month and around 30 percent of them live in the United States.

Visitor distribution

The Korean wave led mostly by Korean dramas and K-Pop is making strong gains. At first, Korean dramas drew attention from the middle-aged group, but now K-Pop has grabbed the spotlight, enjoying immense popularity among teens worldwide. We are also seeing other diverse Korean cultural products being exported to foreign nations. In this respect, it is no wonder that there is a growing demand for a channel through which to access Korean cultural content readily. Soompi is the site committed to satisfying that demand.

A site for global fans of K-Pop culture

Soompi's membership is composed of K-Pop fans in Asia including China, Japan and Vietnam as well as those in the United States and Europe. Non-Korean speaking members are quite active in spreading Korean dramas by creating subtitled copies of the dramas within a few days after they watch them online at Soompi. Members use online chat rooms to ask questions about storylines they have difficulty understanding and to share their opinions. In addition, they discuss diverse topics on Korean culture and form communities for those with similar preferences. Driven by their love for Korean dramas and K-Pop music, Soompi members are increasingly showing interest in Korea's food, games and language as well.

Fan club of "Seonggyungwan Scandal"

Fan club of "Yong-Seo" couple of "We're Married"

The most recent Korean drama to receive an enthusiastic response from Soompi members was "Seonggyungwan Scandal (KBS)." Though a historical drama, it gained much popularity in the United States. As the drama was set in the Joseon period (1392-1910), non-Korean Soompi members said they enjoyed "studying" the archaic expressions and words used in the drama. "You're Beautiful (SBS)" and "Boys over Flowers (KBS)" were also popular among Soompi members. In addition to dramas, shows like "We're Married (MBC)" draw large audiences. The wedding photos of Sohyeon of Girls Generation and Jeong Yong-hwa of CN Blue drew much attention at first mistaken as a real photograph, but they were actually composite photos a Soompi member created in celebration of the 300th-day anniversary of the two as a couple. Some Soompi members who wanted to see a romantic bike date scene on the show, actually sent a bike as a gift for the couple and the bike was used as a prop in the variety show. Soompi allows members to stay abreast of the latest headlines on Korean dramas and K-Pop music and share information using social networking sites like Facebook.

Communication through events and Soompi

Big Bang global event

Soompi and YG Entertainment jointly held the promotional event, "How much do you love Big Bang," to coincide with the release of Big Bang's new album, informing Soompi members about the idol group's activities. As soon as the event was announced, hundreds of Soompi members across the world responded. Some of them even uploaded Big Bang videos and music and shared messages to show their love for the group. The board reserved for the event was filled with comments and the latest information. The member who posted the best thread received a congratulatory video message from Big Bang. It was an event designed to promote communication between the singers and their fans.

Soompi France (http://www.kpop.fr)

Soompi is planning to merge with French K-Pop websites kpop.fr and kpopfrance.com and operate an integrated site called "Soompi Media," with the aim of opening a German site in mid August 2011 followed by a Japanese site later the same year. The launch of Soompi Media is expected to play a central role in spreading K-Pop culture by allowing global fans to have ready access to Korean cultural content.

Joonpyo Lee Chief Strategy Officer, Enswers Inc. President, Soompi Soompi: http://www.soompi.com          ※  The title of the contributor is as of the date when the text is contributed.     ※  The copyright for the images above is owned by the contributor and reproduction in any form without permission is prohibited.