Strategy and creative agency Inner Chapter has released new research examining youth culture in South Korea.
Drawing on insights from recent client projects in luxury and leisure, as well as a webinar with travel and media experts, the findings highlight shifting values, behaviors, and cultural trends among young people.
The research explores evolving tastes in music and media, the blending of subcultures with the mainstream, the rise of analogue nostalgia and pop-up culture, shifting patterns in youth travel, and the growing synchronization of trends across regions and diasporas.
The report also includes the latest wave of Inner Chapter’s youth survey, which tracks changes in attitudes and lifestyles across key sectors among 1,000 respondents aged 15–29 in South Korea, with additional perspectives from China and the United States, where the consultancy also has studios.
Highlights from the research into music, media, and travel
While K-pop is the most recognizable global cultural export from Korea, and US cultural influence from R&B and Hip-hop remains visible in entertainment and fashion – there is much more to the Korean music scene.
“Korean youth are omni-platform, highly visual consumers. They don’t just consume content—they remix it, adapt it, and rapidly form micro-communities around it,” said Creative Producer Selena Seoyoung Kim.
More insights…
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