K-pop has always been something that has been marketed to an international audience. Western pop music culture has played a large role in K-pop, but despite America’s historical influence on K-pop, K-pop has not always been a large part of Western pop culture.
Over the last five years, K-pop groups have started marketing themselves beyond South Korea and neighboring Asian countries, expanding their influence to the United States, Canada, South America, and Europe.
This international growth has not gone unnoticed by South Korean entertainment agencies. Agencies such as Hybe Corporation and JYP Entertainment have pushed K-pop’s borders beyond Asia through survival shows that feature foreigners. Survival shows such as Dream Academy and A2K have successfully marketed themselves on an international scale, debuting global girl groups. Take the six member girl group, VCHA, for example, which debuted from the survival show A2K, made headlines as the first North American K-pop group.
While it isn’t uncommon for groups to have two to three members not from Korea, groups will usually have at least one native Korean. The foreigners will usually be from surrounding Asian countries, usually Japan or China. Thus, having a group with no native South Koreans is quite uncommon.
VCHA’s member diversity is quite refreshing to see as it is rare to have in the Korean entertainment industry as a whole. While this diversity is something that is great to see, it does bring up some concerns.
While the number of foreigners in Korea has increased over the years, the country remains a largely homogenous place that lacks diversity. The entertainment industry, in particular, tends to exhibit more conservative tendencies and a reluctance to embrace foreign ideas. This industry is known for its mistreatment and harshness; it’s not uncommon for Korean netizens to voice their harsh opinions of idols who do not conform to traditional expectations.
In the case of VCHA, netizens have already taken it upon themselves to leave comments and posts about one of the VCHA members, commenting on how she doesn’t fit into Korean beauty standards. Korea’s view on diversity is one of many reasons why VCHA lacks an audience in South Korea.
However, they seem to be very popular internationally, primarily due to the fluency of all six members in English. Having a group with all native English speakers has broken down language barriers for international fans, allowing English speaking fans to connect more easily with the group and their music.
