#Data explained

18 posts

• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·8 min read52.7% of K-pop Album Buyers Want the GoodsKorea Consumer Agency: 52.7% bought an album to collect the goods; 5.7% listen on CD. An album carries 7.8 goods, 2.9 of them random. The discs get binned.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·8 min readBuldak Ramen: 82% of Samyang Revenue Is OverseasSamyang Q1 2026: revenue 714.4bn won (+35%), operating profit 177.1bn (+32%). Europe grew 215%. Why your packet is not the one sold in Korea.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·10 min readWhat to Buy at Olive Young, and Which StoreForeign customers went from 2% of offline sales in 2022 to 28% in 2025. Jeju is up 199.5x, Busan 59.1x — the growth is fastest outside Seoul.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·9 min readA 40,000 Won Lightstick Costs 10,000 to MakeMargins reach 420%. Four major Korean agencies took 1.1 trillion won in merch in 2025, up over 40%; YG's Q1 2026 merch was double its concert revenue.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·8 min readThe Top K-pop Merch Markets Are Not KoreaOn one global platform, lightsticks ranked first in Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Mexico; video-call albums led in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·8 min readKorean Salon Prices — 19,558 Won, or 60,000 WonKorea Consumer Agency data: 19,558 won average, 25,000 in Incheon, 15,200 in North Jeolla. Inside one salon the price multiplies by who holds the scissors.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·8 min readKorea's Biggest Coffee Chain Isn't StarbucksFair Trade Commission 2025: Mega Coffee 3,325 stores, Compose 2,649, Ediya 2,562. The entire top is low-cost. How a 2,000-won americano holds its price.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·8 min readWhy Koreans Drink 405 Cups of Coffee a YearNational Tax Service figures put coffee shops at 96,650 — 2.5 times the world average per person. Why that number is not really about coffee at all.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·9 min readKoreans Watch 20x More YouTube Than NetflixWiseApp Retail, Jan–May 2026: YouTube 113.6 billion minutes a month, Netflix 5.61 billion. Over four years Spotify grew 1,200% and Netflix 19.1%.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·9 min readSeoul Transit Card 2026: Climate Card vs T-moneyFrom March 17, 2026 Seoul takes overseas cards at 440 machines in 273 stations (3.7% fee). Short passes from 5,000 won a day; the 30-day pass ends Oct 1.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·10 min readSixteen Episodes Is Now Statistically Wrong — Korean Dramas Averaged 12.5 in 2025Guides to K-drama still call 16 episodes the standard. In 2025 Korea scheduled 85 dramas totalling 1,059 episodes: 12.5 each. Sixteen came from twice a week for eight weeks, and ad and placement contracts were priced on that block. The 2026 forecast is 104 titles and 1,358 episodes.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·9 min readVietnam Just Became Korea's Top Source of New Arrivals — A Map Drawn by 98,000 PeopleIn 2025, 98,000 Vietnamese nationals entered Korea, more than any other nationality for the first time in 25 years. Here is where that number lands: 107,807 students, roughly 149,000 workers, and the cities of Ansan, Hwaseong and Siheung.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·9 min readKorean Food Exports Hit $7.05B — Ramyeon Up 27.9%A record half-year, up 4.1%. Ramyeon alone took $935 million. The US passed $1 billion for the first time; fastest growth was the Middle East at 25.2%.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·9 min readKorean Filming Locations: One Site Rose 640%Cheongnyeongpo drew 128,325 visitors in Q1, up 640%; King Danjong's tomb 85,120, up 752%. The cause: a February 2026 film seen by 16.91 million people.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·8 min readNaver Map vs Google Maps: Which Works in Korea?Korea's culture ministry surveyed 1,232 foreign visitors: Naver Map first at 27.8%, Papago 9.9%, Google Maps 6.3% — and a 30.2% dissatisfaction rate.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·10 min readSeoul Skin Clinics Now Take 63% of MyeongdongCreatrip data: dermatology took 63% of Myeongdong spending in Q1 2026; hair salons led with 43% in 2025. Plastic surgery fell from 46.2% to 21.3%.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·10 min readSM's Q2: 349.6 Billion Won and 13 ComebacksRevenue rose 15.4% but album and streaming revenue fell; concerts were up 23.6% and merch 22.0%. aespa's new tour covers 25 regions, none of them in Asia.
• 🇰🇷 Korea·August 8, 2026·9 min readK-pop Photocards: Why One Card Can Cost $2,000A BTS Jimin card traded at 3 million won. Secondhand trades rose 93% in a year, 830,000 to 1.6 million, with about 610,000 listed on one Korean app alone.