South Korea is a country located on the Korean peninsula, East Asia.

The Korean peninsula,

which was previously a territory for one country, namely Korea, is currently separated into two
countries (South Korea and North Korea) due to civil war. South Korea formed a separate state
and named it the Republic of Korea (Republic of Korea) in 1948.
South Korea has a presidential republic system of government. Based on the Presidential system
adopted by South Korea, the Head of State and Head of Government are held by a President who
is elected by the people based on the results of the General Election for a term of 5 years. The
total area of South Korea, which is 99,720km2, is between 124°E- 130°E and 33°N- 39°N.
Geographically, South Korea is bordered by land with North Korea to the north while the east,
south, and west are surrounded by the sea. To the west and south is the Yellow Sea and to the
west is the Sea of Japan, while to the southeast is the Korea Strait which borders Japan.

Discussing further South Korea, over the last five years, Hallyu or the Korean Wave has become
an addiction for the Indonesian people as a result of the rapid flow of globalization which makes
it easier to access various information without being limited by time or region. Hallyu or Korean
Wave is a phenomenon of the spread of Korean culture in all parts of the world, from drama,
music, clothing to food. Hallyu already has its place among Indonesian people, especially
women and teenagers. Korean culture has grown rapidly and expanded globally in the last two
decades. Its existence tends to be accepted by the public from various circles, resulting in a
phenomenon of "Korean Wave" or also called Hallyu. This phenomenon can be found in
Indonesia and its impact is felt in everyday life, especially for the millennial generation. The
massive development of information technology due to globalization is the main factor causing
the public enthusiasm for the Korean Wave in Indonesia. The Korean Wave itself begins and is
very synonymous with the world of entertainment such as music, drama, and variety shows that
are beautifully packaged to present Korean cultures. Over time, Korean culture is widely
implemented in the daily lives of Korean culture lovers, from fashion, make-up, Korean
skincare, food, speaking style, to language.

One of the Korean Wave products that millennials are very interested in is pop music. Korean
pop music or often referred to as K-pop is one of the entertainment sub-sectors that lifts the
South Korean economy. The South Korean government itself has long given special attention to
its music industry. In the late 1990s, when most of Asia was experiencing a financial crisis,
South Korea instead formed a Ministry of Culture with a special department for K-pop (Putri,
2019). They also built a giant concert auditorium, made hologram technology more perfect, and
set up noeraebang (karaoke bars) to protect the K-pop industry. This shows the seriousness of the
South Korean government in empowering the popularity of their artists. Another example, the
South Korean government was able to make a bus stop, a former shooting video clip for an idol
group, in a remote beach area as a popular tourist attraction.

Indonesia, which is currently the fourth most populous country in the world, is home to millions
of K-popers or K-pop lovers. In 2019, Twitter announced a list of countries that tweeted the most
about K-pop artists throughout 2019, and Indonesia was ranked 3rd after Thailand and South
Korea. As for viewing K-pop videos on Youtube by country, Indonesia ranks 2nd with a
percentage of 9.9% (Won So, 2020). Meanwhile, South Korea is in the first position with a
percentage that is not much different from Indonesia, which is 10.1%.
Indonesia is known to have a large and loyal fanbase in the K-pop world. This makes Indonesia a
very potential 'market' for the South Korean economy with the Korean Wave. Sometimes, being
a K-poper is not something that comes cheap. K-popers need to spend a lot of money to buy
concert tickets, albums, merchandise, votes, and products advertised by their favorite artists. In
addition, visiting South Korea is a dream for K-popers where this certainly has a big impact on
the South Korean tourism sector. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between
Indonesia and South Korea in 1973, South Korea has become one of the countries that have the
largest number of investments and is widespread in various projects in Indonesia (Bhaskara,
2019). Indonesia and South Korea also agreed to increase their bilateral trade to 30 billion US
dollars by 2022.

The existence of K-pop artists today has influenced millennial preferences in several ways. For
example, the increasingly widespread use of Korean skincare and make-up products, Korean
style, Korean food consumption, and others. Their perspective also changed to be more open to
various aspects of life, became happier and many even rose from depression. They also often
insert words in Korean in everyday life such as annyeong, Saranghae, hyung, and hwaiting. In
addition, fans of Korean artists usually establish fanbases or communities spread across various
regions in Indonesia. For example, NCTzen Yogyakarta is a gathering place for NCT (idol
group) fans in Yogyakarta. They have structured management like any organization in general
and actively hold events for NCT fans.

Not only the interest of the Indonesian population to learn Korean culture is increasing, the South
Korean population who is learning Indonesian culture is also increasing. Jamhari (2015) said that
currently Indonesian is becoming more popular and the interest of people who want to learn
Indonesian is also increasing. Three universities in South Korea offer Indonesian language
programs, namely Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), Busan University of Foreign
Studies (BUFS), and Woosong University. This is also supported by the number of Korean
companies investing outside Korea such as Indonesia. Learning Indonesian will provide
opportunities for them to work in Korean companies outside of Korea. In addition, many Korean
artists are invited to national events in Indonesia and become brand ambassadors for local
products or companies. Indonesia as one of the countries that contribute to the largest fanbase
makes Korean artists pay more attention to Indonesia by creating Indonesian cultural content.
There is even a group called Secret Number, the first female idol group to have members from
Indonesia. This certainly gets great attention from all over the world, especially the Indonesian
people, so that its popularity is very high. Therefore, it can be said that Indonesia has an
important role in the development of the Korean Wave globally.