(Top photo from left) BTS, BLACKPINK, Psy, TWICE and EXO, and (bottom photo from left) Lee Min Ho, Hyun Bin, Gong Yoo, Song Hye-kyo and Lee Jong-suk (Instagram, Facebook, tvN) 

K-pop superstars BTS, actor Lee Min Ho, “Crash Landing on You” and “Parasite” were voted as the top choices in a survey on Hallyu, or Korean Wave. 

The Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) published the 2021 Global Hallyu Trends based on the 2021 Overseas Korean Wave Survey and 2020 Korean Wave Economic Impact Study covering 8,500 respondents from 18 countries. 

For Korean singers, BTS emerged as the No. 1 choice in 2020 with 22 percent, the third straight year that they topped the survey. This is an increase from 15.2 percent (first place) in 2019 and 10.3 percent (first place) in 2018. 

BLACKPINK placed second in 2020 with 13.5 percent, up from their second place finish in 2019 of 6.5 percent. 

The two groups were followed by Psy with 2.9 percent, TWICE with 2.4 percent and EXO with 2.1 percent. 

In the 2019 survey, BTS ranked first followed by BLACKPINK, Psy, TWICE and Big Bang. In 2018, BTS came first followed by Psy, BLACKPINK, Big Bang and EXO. 

On the other hand, “The King: Eternal Monarch” star Lee Min Ho was voted again as the No. 1 favorite Korean star with 9.6 percent followed by “Crash Landing on You” star Hyun Bin, 3.5 percent; Gong Yoo, 2.3 percent; Song Hye-kyo, 2.3 percent; and Lee Jong-suk, 2.1 percent. 

In 2019, voted top stars were Lee Min Ho, 7.6 percent; Song Hye-kyo, 3.4 percent; Song Joong-ki, 1.9 percent; Gong Yoo, 1.8 percent; Suzy, 1.7 percent; and Lee Jong-suk, 1.7 percent.

For favorite Korean dramas, “Crash Landing on You” starring couple Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin emerged as the No. 1 choice with 9.5 percent while “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” starring Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Ye-ji placed second with 4.1 percent. 

“The World of the Married” starring Kim Hee-ae, Park Hae-joon and Han So-hee came in third place with 2.8 percent followed by “Itaewon Class” with 2.8 percent and “Kingdom” with 2.5 percent. 

For favorite Korean movies, “Parasite” took first place with 18.4 percent followed by “Train to Busan,” 10.2 percent; “Peninsula,” 3.5 percent; “#ALIVE,” 2.1 percent; and “Time to Hunt,” 1.6 percent.

Source: Manila Bulletin (https://mb.com.ph/2021/08/05/bts-lee-min-ho-crash-landing-on-you-parasite-top-hallyu-survey/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bts-lee-min-ho-crash-landing-on-you-parasite-top-hallyu-survey)