More Students in U.S. Study Korean

Published on 2018/07/15 | Source

More and more people around the world are choosing to study the Korean language, largely because of the global popularity of K-pop.

The Modern Language Association of America said the number of Korean classes at American universities increased by 14 percent between 2013 and 2016 despite an overall decline in foreign-language enrollment in the U.S.

The association claimed the rising interest in learning Korean came from a desire to understand the lyrics of K-pop hits.

In the late 1990s, just over 150 people studied Korean in American colleges, but that figure now stands at roughly 14,000.

Studying Korean is also becoming increasingly popular in Canada, Malaysia and Thailand thanks to students' love for Korean music and soaps.