As Korean-pop artists such as BTS, MONSTAX and BLACKPINK gain traction and popularity in the U.S, more and more people become fans and celebrate the successes of the groups they enjoy, or ‘stan’. However, due to the sheer size of the fandoms and the variety of people in them, there’s an unfortunate negative stigma which revolves around the fans and the industry. This causes some people to condemn the music genre in its entirety, as well as to make preemptive assumptions about people who enjoy Korean music.

One of the biggest misconceptions is the idea that all people who listen to K-pop or other Korean music genres are ‘Koreaboos’, people who try to be Korean and fetishize Koreans while forgetting their own culture and identity. Although there are definitely people in the fandom that have this unhealthy mentality and don’t respect the privacy and boundaries of their idols, this term tends to be overgeneralized and applied to people that simply enjoy the music, enjoy watching Korean-dramas, are interested in speaking the language, and who are interested in other aspects of Korean culture, such as the food. 

This negative stigma is so strong that many K-pop fans or people who enjoy Korean based culture and entertainment feel the need to hide their interests or passions. One fan, Mello Vey (9), recalls how “it took me ages to actually feel comfortable wearing any of the clothes or to put up the posters in my room” because she was so terrified of being wrongly labeled and judged. Even now, she says “I still get called a Koreaboo whenever I bring up BTS, and it really pisses me off. People who don’t speak or understand English listen to English songs all the time, but when I do it, I’m a ‘Koreaboo’. It’s so stupid”. Many other fans also feel similarly, and it’s a fair point – enjoying music or media from other cultures doesn’t automatically mean a person is denouncing their own.

Another common misconception is that all people who enjoy Korean music or culture fetishize Asians. While this perception isn’t necessarily baseless, since there definitely are fans who unhealthily idealize Koreans or Asians due to the way they’re intentionally romanticized in k-dramas or in the Korean music industry, assigning this assumption onto anyone who enjoys aspects of Korean culture is a gross over-generalization. People who enjoy aspects of Korean culture or Korean music are still just like any other person – they’re people who have other qualities, traits and diverse personalities that aren’t solely based around kpop. They have lives outside of kpop, just like any fan of a t.v. show or an English speaking band does. After all, even though there’s toxic fans who idealize them, they don’t define the entire community, and assuming that not only limits a person’s ability to connect with extremely versatile people who happen to enjoy K-pop, but it also doesn’t stop the people who do think in that toxic way from acting and thinking like they do.

Since K-pop and Korean music are continuously growing more and more popular in the states each day, these and many other misconceptions are bound to continue. But at the same time, so long as talented artists exist, Korean or otherwise, there will be avid fans ready to support them and spread awareness. Either way, the presence of the widely-circulated misconceptions and ceaseless support from international fans shows the undeniably influential nature of K-pop.