The Decibel - KPop Demon Hunters, Korean culture and why kids love it so much

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

The movie of the summer wasn’t in theatres this year. It was on Netflix, it’s called KPop Demon Hunters and kids are obsessed with it. It has become the most-streamed movie ever on Netflix. Four of the songs from the movie are on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.The movie is about a K-pop girl group who are also secret protectors of the world, keeping demons at bay. It’s the brainchild of Korean-Canadian Maggie Kang, and made by Hollywood studio Sony Pictures Entertainment.Ji-yoon An is an assistant professor of modern Korean popular culture at the University of British Columbia. She explains why kids are obsessed with the movie, and how South Korean culture has spread across the world.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [e-mail]

That's That's That's That's That's the song Golden, from the movie K-pop Demon Hunters And if you're a parent, I probably

did not need to tell you that Because kids are obsessed with this movie right now I love K-pop Demon Hunters so much. My favorite thing about, like, K.P. Demon Hunters is how they kill the demons. Those guys are evil. It's so, it's so creative, and I like one the part of when they're singing it. It's really good, the songs, the visuals, and the characters. I wanted to watch it because everyone kept telling me to watch it,

because everyone kept saying it was so good. The movie follows three young women who are part of a girl group called Huntrix, who also happened to be secret protectors of the world keeping soul-sucking demons at bay. They're stealing the souls of our fans? Let's send those disgusting demons back to the depths where they belong! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! K-pop Demon Hunters with streams on Netflix was a huge success in a summer when traditional movies struggled to get people out to the theaters. And on top of being Netflix's most watched movie ever, with over 290 million streams, this musical's soundtrack is also dominating Billboard's Hot 100 chart. My name is Ji Yun-Anne.

I'm an assistant professor in modern Korean popular culture. at the University of British Columbia. Ji Yun-Anne is my guest today. She'll explain why your kids are obsessed with the movie and how South Korean culture has spread across the world. I'm Cheryl Sutherland, and this is The Decibel from the Globe and Mail. Hi, Diyun, welcome to the Decibel. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

So this movie and its music has created a real sense of fandom in kids. I've also heard from a teacher that said that, you know, one kid will start singing the song and all the kids join in and he's never seen anything like this before. And it's rare to have these cultural moments where like everyone is obsessed with the same thing. So what do you make around the craze of this movie? You know, it's so interesting because for me, when I saw the film, I thought this has got great catchy music. It's got stunning visuals. And I kind of took my analytical approach from my job. But actually around me, the impression I get from the school kids is that like this is just a fun song for them. And there was this Korean journalist who described it as the new Let It Go. And I think it's sort of that kind of vibe where it's just a song that all the kids are loving. And they're not necessarily understanding the meanings behind the lyrics, especially because some of the lyrics are in Korean. But I think it's a song that's just resonating with that young generation right now.

Yeah. And you're talking about the music. And what's really interesting here is there is one song at top of the billboards, golden. And there are also three other songs in the top 10. So the music is a big part of the music. movie. And what's interesting about the music? Because it is K-pop. Yes. Hence the name K-pop Dima-Hunders. But it's in English, right? What do you make of that? I think the fact that the film and that the songs are in English is evidence that this is not a full kind of or typical

Korean product. So, you know, not only because it's like Sony money, it's Sony production and then it was sold fully to Netflix. There's no other distributor beyond Netflix, right? So it's very much these big American companies. But, you know, even the approach to the storytelling world, I think it's not necessarily quite Korean. So the idea of like our anxiety, calling on demons that kind of feed on our weakness, the idea that there are some spiritual guides in the world who help to kind of repress the demons. These are all very universal themes. And it just kind of happens to be set in Korea and they happen to be a K-pop band, right? So I think there's a kind of universality to the narrative itself about good versus evil, which can be so kind of, it can reach such

a broad demographic. I think that's kind of why it works. And I think that's why even though the music is in a K-pop style, the lyrics had to be in English to kind of match that universal theme to match the global audience. It was really interesting. I read this story. A lot of journalists have been writing about how, you know, this is like the next thing in the Korean Wave and then you've had the opposite side of journalists, where they're like, this film never could have been greenlit in Korea. This is not really a Korean product. Oh, interesting. And in that approach, I saw one comment by someone, which was really funny. It was describing the tiger and the magpie and how if this was a Korean product, the tiger would have been infinitely cuter. They would have

made it more like a cute animation. And for those who haven't seen the movie, the tiger is a very big part of the movie. This is this blue creature. How would you describe it? So it comes from this folk painting. Yeah, it comes from a folk painting from like the 18th, 19th century. And there's meant to represent like good luck the tiger is very powerful map pie is very smart always kind of warns you of good news or whatever news is coming but then there's always this interplay where the map pie is quite smart and the tiger's a little dumb sometimes and that's why the tiger has this kind of strange little idiotic face expression right and in the film they keep that face it's very similar to the paintings that you get from the 18th century and i think a lot of korean commenters were

saying that keeping that authenticity is quite a foreigners approach. Whereas from Korea, if they had made this film, they would have made the tiger more cute, more kind of typical animation. Yeah, right? And what's interesting here is that this movie, like you've touched on this. This is made by Sony Entertainment. It's also directed by a Korean Canadian. So this is not specifically from Korea. How is Korean culture depicted from that lens? You know, what I loved about this film and it's kind of strange because it's still made by like Sony and Netflix. But what I loved about the film is that it never tries to explain or introduce Korean culture in a way. It just kind of assumes that we know. And I loved that attitude. So I think an example is when

in the film, it's this one woman, it's not going to ruin the story for anyone. But when Rumi, one of the main characters, loses her voice and they have to cancel a show, she kind of disappears and then the other two girls come to find her and they have a comforting meal and you see them visually sat across the table and the girls are just, they all have this broth in front of them and for a Korean audience

you naturally recognise what the broth is. This is Salaung-Tang. And it makes sense because she's lost her voice and in Korean culture when you're ill Salang-Tang is something you often have. And so of course the two characters naturally assume she's caught a cold and that's why she's lost her voice.

So of course they would have Sala-Tang, right? but this is something that is never discussed in the dialogue it's never narratively explained it's just kind of there and even the visuals they show you a little bit of the soup but not really this is like a beef shank broth soup kind of style it's just a one dish for each person and it's not a luxurious looking multi-colourful kind of dish it's quite a simple dish it's a very simple visual

but they just kind of have it in there and I think Koreans loved this scene they kind of quoted on it and they said like Sallangang is something you never see in films outside of K-drama. So they loved seeing this. And I think that's just a great way in which Korean culture is just showcased it by being present, not really exhibiting. Yeah, yeah, that's really lovely. That's like kind of like a Korean cultural Easter egg.

Does anything else stand out for you? That's like a Korean Easter egg? So I liked the scene where the song, your idol, has been played, and the Sajapo is dressed in the grim reaper outfit. And that's very appropriate because the word Sada, in Korean, means lion. But actually, it also refers to the phrase, Chozing Saja, which means grim reaper. So there's a wordplay where the Saja Boys logo in the film is a lion,

but they're also dressed as the grim reapers, because for Koreans, you'll recognize that they're meant to be messengers from the underworld. But for me, actually, it's the music. So the music uses a lot of Korean phrases that are not easy. These are not basic phrases that are. early learners will know. And they never give subtitles for the Korean. And sometimes I had to kind of look up the Korean because I couldn't hear it properly. So it's kind of fascinating that they use the Korean phrases and they don't give you the subtitles. They assume you just know the Korean

or that you will get to know the Korean. I think that's a similar kind of approach to the kind of the way they depict Korean culture. So we do know that this movie is of course exploding in North America. But what about in South Korea? Like is it is it as popular there as it is So it's definitely very well known and very popular, but until Netflix kind of gives us and releases a data breakdown by country, I don't think we'll know whether it's being watched as much in South Korea as it is being outside of Korea. But it's definitely well known. So like the National Museum of Korea has been selling out every tiger-related motif souvenir in the gift shop apparently. And there's a Korean news channel in English often called Arirang. But they did all one-hour panel on. on K-pop Demon Hunters inviting Maggie Kang, and the South Korean president came onto this panel, gave up an hour to discuss K-pop demon hunters, which the president had actually seen.

So this, I think, shows the extent to which this is a big phenomenon in Korea, too. But I'm not sure whether my Instagram is filled with these, like, kids doing the dances and, you know, attempting to sing, right? But I don't know if we're getting that in Korea, because there is the English barrier, because the songs are all in English. So I don't know whether it's resonating with children in the same way that, you know, it is here right now.

But I think there are, like, different phenomenon. So I also, I read that the national team for ice skating in Korea for short tracks, short track's a really big deal in Korea. Apparently they're now training to Golden because for the next Olympics because they're going up, up, right? This is the moment to shine for the gold medal, right? So I think that's a different, that's a different interpretation of the lyrics than from the Western kind of from the North American audience right now, right?

That's really great. Oh my gosh. Also, chaining to that song would just would give me so much motivation. It like pups you up. So that's great. So one more thing I wanted to talk to you about was the fandom, right? Because in this movie, the fans are kind of its own character, right? Can you talk a little bit about that and like how it relates to Korean culture?

Yeah, I think it's a real homage to the K-pop world. So that's kind of what I also visually loved about this film. the animation is stunning as it is. But not just that, you know, they have different aspects of the K-pop world within the narrative. So you have the storyline of the girls and, you know, hidden past and all this. But then you get so much time spent on like the concerts, the camera work that shows you the actual stadiums. You see like fans waving the light, which is exactly what would happen in a K-pop concert. And then when you have like backstage scenes of the characters, I think it's often taking the form of like vlogs, which a lot of Korean and K-pop concert,

pop idols do, where they kind of show the backstage or their private lives. And this is a really big part of the K-pop world because fans then feel like they get to know their idols, right? And I think we have that being showcased a little bit where the Huntrix Girls are doing a live vlog, but we also, the way the camera is following them, is almost like a vlog in itself. So I think there are these different levels of homage to the K-pop world that would speak definitely to K-pop fans. And even if not, even if you're not a K-pop fan, it's a great introduction. It's a great segue into that world. We'll be right back.

So now I want to talk about the broader picture. You know, K-pop Demon Hunters is the latest example of Korean culture exploding into North American or Western culture. So I'm kind of thinking about, like we talked about K-pop itself, so groups like Blackpink and BTS, but, you know, also TV. So Squid Game, I'm sure many people will remember. That's another Korean export that broke Netflix records. It was number one most watched series debut ever on Netflix. And then, of course, there's movies like Parasite, which, you know, won the Oscar. So this spread of Korean culture, it's known as something called Haleu.

Am I saying that right? How did Haleu come to be? So Hailu is actually a term that was coined by Chinese journalists. Oh, interesting. Very early, like I think it was 99. so in the late 1990s. And it refers to the global popularity or popularity of South Korean culture

and entertainment outside of Korea. So it just means like the Korean kind of wave. And it is often called the Korean wave as well. And I think Haldi or the Korean wave is often described in generations. So they talk about like Haliu 1.0, Halu 2.0 like this. And the first generation, the fast wave

is usually the early 2000s when it was mainly Korean films. A few Korean. dramas, but some early K-pop bands as well, there was mainly films that did particularly well with nearby Asian countries. And then by Hali 2.0, I think this is when we get like K-pop at the forefront, followed by K-drama, less cinema now. And this, I think, is usually taken to be like mid-2000s onwards. I've heard people talk about Hali 3.0, 4.0. And I think they're kind of determined by specific hit was. I think the timeline becomes a little more dubious then.

But, you know, we've seen these waves of Korean products doing well outside of Korea. And I think the latest is what we're seeing, where it's kind of North America and with Netflix taking such a big role, it's getting more murky, right? Because it's not always a Korean production. It's not always Korean money. It's not always Korean industries. So I think we're seeing this development very drastically changing in recent years. Yeah, because this movie, of course, as we mentioned, is not made in Korea. Yes.

So it's kind of like that the next iterative. of what you're talking about it. So it's like reflecting Korean culture from a Western point of view, sort of, right? Yeah, I guess in a way, but also not because Maggie Kang is someone who's Korean. So she was born in Korea. I think she moved over when she was five or six,

something like this. But for me, I would consider her like a diasporic Korean. I think I moved over to the UK when I was six, and I think we are described as 1.5 generation. I think she is the same. So in a way, yes, it's kind of like a diasporic, approach, and yet there is still an authentic Korean identity there as well. So it's a very interesting mix of that, right? But I think we're getting more and more of this right now.

You know, in recent years, I think not just K-pop Demon Hunters, but we've had this increase of kind of commercial successful works by diasporic Koreans. So a few years ago, there was that film Past Lives by another Canadian Korean, Celine Song. Beautiful art house. It right? The year before in 2022, Apple TV did Pichinko, which is based on a novel. from 2017. So it's still relatively recent. In 2022, I think, or three, there was also that Netflix show beef. I didn't know if you saw that one. Oh, yes, I have. Yes. That's also by a Korean American, right? Oh, okay. And so we're getting a lot of these works being made by diasporic Koreans or like second generation Koreans living abroad, where they feature Korean culture very strongly,

but they're all written in English and they're kind of catered to a Western audience. So I think this is like Cape of Demon Hunters is a part of that genre for me where we're seeing this diaspora being more, I think they're making these ties back to the home country and yet working in the host countries. Right, right. Okay, so this is how you, whatever you call it, maybe 3.0, 4.0, depending on who you speak to. I want to get back to how intentional has the South Korean government been in supporting this exportation of culture? I think in the Korean case, it's kind of well discussed that the government did play quite a crucial role. And the anecdote that I like to share in my classes when in 1994, the kind of famous story is that

the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology reported to the South Korean president at the time that Stephen Spielberg's Jurassic Park, which was released in 93, had earned revenue equivalent to exporting 1.5 million Hyundai cars. Interesting. And South Korean cars, all of the automobile exports in 1993, the same year as Jurassic Park, had only equaled like 640,000, so less than 1.5, right? So basically Jurassic Park had earned double what Korea's biggest industry could earn at the time. And so they made this comparison with the blockbuster film

to kind of urge the government to support the arts in a way and see the arts as an export. And this is exactly what the government did. So starting with the film industry, we see a lot of support policies being made in kind of the 90s, which helps the film industry to have its revival in the late 90s and early 2000s. Funding is boosted.

They start to create these different agencies within the government that help to export Korean products and they help with the investment as well. So all of this efforts are a way of commercializing cultural products in order to kind of export them as economic products, right? And even now, I think that is a big part of these agencies. Like there's an agency called the Korean Creative Content Agency, which is under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

So I think these agencies are trying to kind of support the export of Korean culture. But of course, you know, it is a private industry. So that doesn't always guarantee success. So it's a mix of the policies, but also the fact that the entertainment works, whether it's K-pop or films or drama or whatnot, have just been very successful on its own as well. So it's a strange mix. What does South Korea gain by exporting its culture?

Yeah, so I think the keyword that's often described with HALU is soft power. They talk about Korea's soft power a lot. So like, for example, in the panel talk that I mentioned with the South Korean president on K-pop Demon Hunters, you could sense a lot of pride in Korea's kind of cultural successes, like with Squid Game. And somehow K-pop Demon Hunters were seen as part of that from the soft power perspective, right? So they emphasized that Korea is now like a global leader of cultural trends, not just an underdog.

And I think the narrative is the idea that before we were trying to prove ourselves on the global platform, we were savanting what would be the hegemonic forces, and now we are leaders. And there was a lot of pride, I think, in that development. But also, I think behind that pride is the belief that global public opinion that's very positive towards Korea and that kind of popularity of South Korea as a whole can have some kind of digital diplomacy, which could then affect actual diplomacy. and trickled down into actual politics.

So I think there is always that belief underneath, as well as the nationalist sentiments. That's fascinating. And I'll just say that when talking to some parents, I heard from one parent that their daughter now wants to go to Korea after watching K-pop Demon Hunter. So, you know, there is a positive view of Korea. Probably this little girl didn't even know about South Korea before. And you can just see that power there displayed. Yeah, absolutely.

I think tourism is rising. So just lastly here, Giyun, we talked about this movie being kind of a new iteration of a diasporic view of Korean culture. Do you think we'll see more of this kind of art? Yes, I do. I think that's such a great question, and I think the short answer is yes. So I mentioned the Korean Creative Content Agency before. And I was reading a Korean kind of news article just about like K-pop Demon Hunters. And I was so fascinated to read that this agency, apparently,

has now changed their strategy and they're no longer using the word halu, but they're using what they call the next K strategy. So, you know, K animation, K beauty, K cuisine, right? And the point of this is to expand its focus from, and this was like the quote, made in Korea to made with Korea. And I think the fact that a government agency that is focusing on exporting Korean contents is changing its attitude from just made in Korea to make with Korea, test. to the extent to which the diaspora is playing quite a crucial role from the domestic

entertainment perspective, right? It's particularly interesting time because these diasporic creators are not always creating career-related contents. So if you look at like Celine Song, the filmmaker behind past lives, her next film released, I think, earlier this summer, is a rom-com, I think, called Materialist with Pedro Pascal and like Dakota Johnson. So it's got nothing to do with Korea, nothing to do with Korean or diasporic identity at all. So from the diasporic perspective, I think these are people who are within an American or North American industry and they're sometimes creating works that relate back to Korea, but not always. But from the Korea perspective, there's keenness for this collaboration. And we see the collaboration happening in

many ways. So like a lot of Korean-American actors, directors, I think are often being invited back to Korea now to collaborate. And the best kind of example of that is Stephen Young, who did Walking Dead, who was very big in Walking Dead. And since then, you know, he's collaborated with Pung Juno in the film Ogja. He was in I Cheng Dong's burning these big art film festival hits. So I think we're seeing more crisp crossovers and yet it's not exclusive, right? These diasporic creators are not exclusively only making career-related content. So it's going to be exciting to see that evolution. June, thank you so much for being on the show with us today. I had so much fun.

talking about this, and yeah, thank you so much. Thank you so much. I had so much fun, too. Thank you for inviting me. That was Gianne, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia who studies modern Korean popular culture. That's it for today. I'm Cheryl Sutherland. A big thank you to all the kids and parents who shared their thoughts and their singing talents, including my daughter. I'm thinking ready for a takedown. The demons with the field. It's the dessert to win. It's all of you.

Uh-oh. Here up and take it down. Take it down. Our producers are Madeline White, Mikhail Stein, and Ali Graham. David Crosby edits the show. Adrian Chung is our senior producer, and Angela Pachenza is our executive editor.

Thanks so much for listening. Thank you. Thank you.