Shropshire K-Pop fan: 'I learned Korean to understand K-Pop'

A passionate British fan of K-Pop, Katy Richards from Newport, Shropshire, decided to learn Korean by traveling to South Korea because she was frustrated by the slow availability of English translations for her favorite songs. Richards, who leads the fan group Hallyu Doing, explained, “When I first got into K-Pop you didn’t get a lot of English subtitles.” This motivated her to take matters into her own hands rather than wait weeks for fan-subtitled translations.

Richards highlighted the growing presence of K-Pop, especially with the return of BTS and the success of the film K-Pop Demon Hunters. She said, “I think K-Pop is going to storm the charts and it’s going to be brilliant.” Supporting this view, Alex Howell, owner of the Lilak K-Pop shop in Shrewsbury, described the genre as “huge” right now, adding that recent exposure has helped parents and others better understand the culture surrounding K-Pop.

For Richards, K-Pop was more than just music; it was her introduction to Korean culture. The enthusiasm sparked an interest in Korean dramas and a deeper dive into the country’s heritage. After spending two weeks there one summer and enjoying the ambiance, she decided to return to study Korean more formally. Reflecting on the previous challenges fans faced, she said, “You had to wait for really dedicated fans who could speak Korean to translate voluntarily and put subtitles out for you, and sometimes you had to wait weeks.” Her solution was to enroll in a language school at a Korean university, where she found learning surprisingly accessible. “Korean is known as the most scientific language on the planet and the actual alphabet you can learn in four hours,” she remarked.

The name of Richards’ fan club, Hallyu Doing, refers to the “Korean wave,” a term describing the increasing global influence of Korean culture. She pointed out, “We’ve all been enjoying Squid Game, Parasite was huge, K-Pop is huge and so all of that is Hallyu.” Additionally, the band BTS recently performed together for the first time since completing their mandatory military service, and Netflix announced a sequel to K-Pop Demon Hunters, a film acclaimed as one of the platform’s most-watched and critically praised. Richards described the movie as being quite different from K-Pop itself, likening it to animated hits like Frozen or Encanto. Nonetheless, she expressed optimism: “I do think that as those kids get older they’ll be more open to listening to K-Pop music.”

Meanwhile, Howell’s journey into the K-Pop scene began in 2018, and in July 2023, she launched the Lilak shop after initially importing Korean merchandise as a hobby with friends. She noted the demand from nearby areas such as Telford and Whitchurch, saying, “It’s huge, we have a lot of people coming from Telford, Whitchurch and Shrewsbury, so we’re really hoping to do more events.” Howell also emphasized the expanding awareness of K-Pop internationally, adding, “Recently K-Pop seems so big internationally, I just think it’s made more people, especially parents, more knowledgeable about K Pop and understand what it is.” Both women agree that as interest continues to grow, the language barrier that once posed challenges, like those that led Richards to Korea, will diminish as more people embrace Korean culture

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