He called the Korean alphabet an example of South Korea’s “soft power.” South Korea’s president Moon Jae-in welcomed the additions to the dictionary and the interest in the language. In an email to the Reuters news agency, he said, “What happens in pop culture and media often influences trends in language and language learning.” Dalsimer noted that as Korean film, music and television get more popular, more people will want to learn the language. Sam Dalsimer is a spokesman for Duolingo. “Hallyu” is how people are describing the success of Korean pop culture outside of Asia. Recently, the Oxford English Dictionary added 26 new words that come from the Korean language, including “hallyu,” which means Korean wave. Korean culture is making a connection with English speakers. Parasite won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020.

It comes after pop songs by the music group BTS and the international success of the movies Parasite and Minari. The nine-part show is another example of Korean popular culture that has found success in the West. In the U.S., the number increased by 40 percent after the show started two weeks ago. In Great Britain, 76 percent more people than usual signed up to learn Korean. The language-learning company, Duolingo, reported the sharp increase in Korean learners. A company offering online language-learning services says more people are learning Korean after the launch of a popular Korean TV show on Netflix.

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