Hallyu-Related Products of South Korea Soar in Exports

Hallyu-related products of South Korea soared in exports during the first half of the year due to the growing popularity of Korean wave or the so-called "Hallyu".

The said related products includes outbound shipments of fashion, beauty, food, and personal care products from South Korea. According to the data from Korea International Trade Association (KITA), the exports of related products amounted to US$6.79 billion in the period from January-June period, increased by 15.2 percent from a year earlier.

"Hallyu" literally means 'flow of Korea' is a neologism referring to the increase in global popularity of South Korean culture since the 1990s. It is first driven by the spread of K-dramas and K-pop across East, South and Southeast Asia during its beginning stages. The Korean Wave evolved from a regional development into a global phenomenon, carried by the Internet and social media and the proliferation of K-pop music videos on YouTube.

It is a new term invented to increase tourism and raise the South Korea's profile in the world. The term 'Hallyu' means the love for Korean pop culture, or the appreciation of all things Korean. Hallyu began roughly 5 years ago when the rest of Asia discovered Korean soap operas.

The popularity of "Hallyu" helped turn its fans into consumers of South Korean products. According to some industry watchers, there is a great potential and attainable growth to the cultural wave of "hallyu" in China and other Asian countries. It also refers to the boom of South Korea-made entertainment goods, including pop music, movies and TV dramas.

The growth of exports of Korean products was driven by cosmetics-related products with their exports rising by 38.5 percent to reach $1.81 billion during the first half of the year. While exports of foods also soared by 3.5 percent on-year to reach $2.43 billion.

On the other hand, exports of such products amounted to $12.21 billion won according to the data showed last year.

"South Korea's diversified product portfolio helped meet demand from customers in overseas markets," the association said.

According to the data by Korea Customs Service (KCS), the exports of South Korea-made cosmetics more than tripled over the past five years. While the outbound shipments of makeup products reached $2.45 billion in 2015, rising by 53.1 percent from $1.56 billion a year earlier. The 2015 figure soared more than threefold from $698 million in 2011, with an annual average growth of 36.9 percent over the 2011-2015 period.

Furthermore, the total volume of cosmetics exports from South Korea stood at 90,491 tons in 2015, compared to 31,606 tons tallied in 2011.

China is recorded as the biggest buyer of South Korean beauty products with a record of importing $999.5 million last year, or 40.6 percent of South Korea's entire cosmetics exports.