A Tony Award-winning play on Broadway. The finale of a record-breaking Netflix show. And a reunion of arguably the world’s biggest pop band.

托尼奖获奖作品在百老汇上演。破收视纪录的Netflix剧集迎来大结局。还有堪称世界上最火的流行组合重新聚首。

South Korean culture is having a moment. Again.

韩国文化正在风靡。再一次。

“Maybe Happy Ending” clinching the best musical Tony this month added a new art form to South Korea’s growing list of international cultural successes. It followed “Parasite,” which in 2020 was the first foreign-language film to win an Oscar for best picture, and Han Kang, who won last year’s Nobel Prize in Literature.

《也许美好结局》(Maybe Happy Ending)本月获得托尼奖最佳音乐剧，为韩国越来越长的国际文化成就清单增添了一种新的艺术形式。在此之前，《寄生虫》在2020年成为第一部获得奥斯卡最佳影片的外语片，韩江在去年获得了诺贝尔文学奖。

On the K-pop front, the last member of BTS has completed his mandatory national service, stirring the hopes of fans worldwide about a reunion. And Blackpink will start a global tour next month with a gig near Seoul.

在韩国流行音乐(K-pop)方面，防弹少年团(BTS)的最后一名成员服完兵役，令全世界粉丝开始翘首盼望他们的重聚。Blackpink将于下个月在首尔附近开始全球巡演。

Next week, the third season of “Squid Game” will arrive on Netflix, the final installment of a show whose first season set viewership records.

本周，《鱿鱼游戏》第三季将在Netflix播出，这是该剧的最后一季，第一季创下了收视率记录。

在本月举行的第78届托尼奖颁奖典礼上，《也许美好结局》获得了最佳音乐剧奖。

But the so-called Korean Wave shows no signs of subsiding. Global interest in seeking out all things Korean, from cosmetics to food, is surging.

所谓的“韩流”并没有消退的迹象。从化妆品到食品，全球对韩国一切事物的兴趣正在飙升。

How did K-culture become so popular?

韩国文化是如何变得如此受欢迎的？

Experts say the nation’s cultural wave, known as “Hallyu” in Korean, began in the late 1990s, when South Korean soaps started gaining popularity in China and Japan. The rise of the internet spread these exports further.

专家表示，韩国的这股文化浪潮（韩语称为“Hallyu”）始于上世纪90年代末，当时韩国肥皂剧开始在中国和日本流行。互联网的兴起进一步扩大了这些出口。

In 2012, Psy’s horseback dance moves and rap melody made “Gangnam Style” the first video on YouTube to surpass one billion views. The breakout hit brought global attention to K-pop. But it was BTS — a group of seven handsome young men who rap, dance and sing (all at the same time) — that took K-pop into the global mainstream. During the pandemic, BTS broke several Guinness World Records for streams and views of their tracks “Dynamite” and “Butter.”

2012年，Psy（“鸟叔”）的骑马舞和说唱旋律使《江南Style》成为YouTube上第一个播放量超过10亿的视频。这首横空出世的神曲让韩国流行音乐受到了全球的关注。但将韩国流行音乐带入全球主流的是防弹少年团——由七名会说唱、跳舞、歌唱的年轻英俊男子组成。在新冠疫情期间，防弹少年团的歌曲《Dynamite》和《Butter》的播放量和观看量打破了多项吉尼斯世界纪录。

2022年，鸟叔在首尔接受了《纽约时报》关于《江南Style》十周年的采访。

Well before K-dramas lit up screens in homes across the world, South Korean restrictions on Hollywood film screenings in the country strengthened domestic filmmaking. The Busan Film Festival, which started in 1996, grew to become one of the most prominent in Asia. In 2004, the director Park Chan-wook won a Cannes Grand Prix for “Oldboy,” a violent revenge thriller.

早在韩剧风靡全球之前，韩国对好莱坞电影在国内放映的限制就促进了国内电影制作。始于1996年的釜山电影节成为了亚洲最具代表性的电影节之一。2004年，导演朴赞郁凭借暴力复仇惊悚片《老男孩》获得戛纳国际电影节大奖。

Another surge in global interest came with “Squid Game,” which debuted in 2021 and kicked off so much discussion worldwide that it created a “cultural zeitgeist,” said Minyoung Kim, Netflix’s vice president of content in Asia. It remains the platform’s biggest show.

《鱿鱼游戏》于2021年首播，引发了全球范围内的广泛讨论，Netflix负责亚洲内容的副总裁金明永（音）说，该剧创造了一种“文化上的时代精神”。目前它仍然是该平台最受欢迎的剧集。

Is Korea becoming a cultural superpower?

韩国正在成为文化超级大国吗？

Many experts believe that K-culture is ensconced in the global mainstream. But some say there is still far to go before the country’s cultural might reaches the international influence of countries like the United States, France, Italy and Japan that are globally known for things like food, fashion and cinema.

许多专家认为韩国文化已融入全球主流。但有人说，韩国的文化实力要达到美国、法国、意大利和日本等全球美食、时尚和电影大国的国际影响力，还有很长的路要走。

There are geopolitical hurdles, too. After a dispute over the deployment of a missile system in South Korea, China placed an unofficial ban on K-pop performances in 2016. And in North Korea, music and shows from the South, and even slang they have popularized, are banned because its leader, Kim Jong-un, sees them as a threat to his regime.

还有地缘政治方面的障碍。在韩国部署导弹系统引发争端后，中国于2016年对韩国流行音乐演出下达了非官方禁令。在朝鲜，来自韩国的音乐和节目，甚至是在它们推广下流行的俚语都被禁止，因为朝鲜领导人金正恩认为它们对自己的政权构成了威胁。

2021年，伦敦梅费尔区的Danceworks Studio的韩国流行乐课程。

The Korean exports have only a sliver of the global market for their respective categories, and experts say it is still too early to tell if K-culture has already peaked or will have lasting power.

韩国的出口产品在全球市场上只占很小的份额，专家们表示，现在判断韩国文化是否已经达到顶峰或是否会具有持久的影响力还为时过早。

While K-pop is extremely popular, it has yet to influence other music genres, said Prof. Andrew Eungi Kim, who studies culture at the International Studies Department at Korea University.

高丽大学国际学系的文化研究教授金恩基表示：“虽然韩国流行音乐非常受欢迎，但它还没有对其他音乐类型产生影响。”

But the popularity of K-pop and K-drama can spark interest in other aspects of South Korean culture, said Cha Woo-jin, a music critic in Seoul. People want to taste the food the stars eat, wear the makeup they use and even learn the language they speak.

但首尔的音乐评论家车宇晋（音）说，韩国流行音乐和韩剧的流行可以激发人们对韩国文化其他方面的兴趣。人们想品尝明星们吃的食物，化他们的妆，甚至学习他们所说的语言。

“People used to think of Hallyu as entertainment,” Mr. Cha said. “But now, it’s a lifestyle.”

“人们曾经认为韩流是一种娱乐，”车宇晋说。“但现在，这是一种生活方式。”

Is K-beauty the next frontier?

韩式美妆会是下一个前沿吗？

South Korean celebrities are envied for their flawless skin. Overseas consumers, especially younger ones, are eager to copy their skin care routines, which can be rigorous.

韩国名人因完美无瑕的皮肤令人羡慕。海外消费者（尤其是年轻消费者）渴望模仿他们的护肤程序，这些程序可能会非常严格。

Korean cosmetic exports soared nearly 21 percent to a record $10.2 billion in 2024, according to government data. They topped French cosmetic exports to the United States last year. South Korea is now ranked as the third-largest exporter of makeup after those two countries.

根据政府数据，韩国化妆品出口在2024年飙升了近21%，达到创纪录的102亿美元。这一数字超过了去年法国对美国的化妆品出口额。韩国现在是仅次于法国和美国的第三大化妆品出口国。

彩妆品牌TirTir在TikTok上走红。

Lyla Kim, who works for TirTir, a Seoul-based makeup brand, said its sales nearly doubled to about $300 million last year after its cushion foundation went viral on TikTok.

首尔彩妆品牌TirTir的工作人员莱拉·金（lyla Kim）表示，该品牌的气垫粉底液在TikTok上疯传后，该品牌去年的销售额几乎翻了一番，达到约3亿美元。

What about K-food?

韩国美食怎么样？

Viral videos of kimbap — seaweed-wrapped rice rolls stuffed with meat, fish or vegetables — have caused American grocery store shelves to be cleared out. Samyang Foods, the maker of the superspicy Buldak instant noodles, has said its exports have quadrupled in recent years. Overall exports of Korean agricultural food products reached a record $2.48 billion in the first quarter, up nearly 10 percent from last year, according to government data.

紫菜包饭（一种用紫菜包着的米饭卷，里面塞满肉、鱼或蔬菜）的视频在网上疯传，导致美国杂货店的货架被抢购一空。生产超辣火鸡方便面的三养食品表示，近年来其出口增长了三倍。根据政府数据，今年第一季度，韩国农产品出口总额达到了创纪录的24.8亿美元，比去年同期增长了近10%。

Korean food also got a plug from the Netflix show “Culinary Class Wars,” which was released in September. It pitted 80 underdog, or “black spoon,” chefs against 20 renowned chefs.

今年9月上映的Netflix真人秀《黑白厨师：料理阶级战争》(Culinary Class Wars)也为韩餐做了宣传。该节目让80名不知名的“黑勺”厨师与20名知名厨师进行对决。

And it may be only a matter of time before the world comes to view a Korean dish like bibimbap, a medley of rice, vegetables, meat and fermented chili paste, as being as universal as pizza, pasta or sushi, said Choi Jung-Yoon, who has been a chef in South Korea, Spain and Australia and heads Nanro, a food research nonprofit.

曾在韩国、西班牙和澳大利亚当过厨师并领导非盈利食品研究机构Nanro的崔正允（音）说，韩式拌饭这样由米饭、蔬菜、肉和发酵辣椒酱混合而成的韩国菜迟早会像披萨、意大利面或寿司一样被全世界接受。

皇后区北方大道Food Bazaar的韩国食品区。

“K-pop and K-dramas may have led to the interest of South Korean food, but it’s K-food that will carry Korea’s cultural legacy into the future,” Ms. Choi said.

“韩国流行音乐和韩剧可能引起了人们对韩国食品的兴趣，但韩国食品才是把韩国文化遗产带到未来的关键，”崔正允说。

How has the K-wave changed South Korea?

“韩流”是如何改变韩国的？

As interest in South Korea grows, the number of tourists, foreign residents and exchange students in the country has steadily increased over the past four years, according to government figures. Some arrivals say they were inspired by the life that its dramas and popular culture icons depicted on social media.

据政府数据显示，随着人们对韩国的兴趣日益浓厚，过去四年来，韩国的游客、外国居民和交换学生数量稳步增长。一些游客表示，社交媒体上的韩国电视剧和流行文化偶像所描绘的生活令他们心生向往。

Onjira Mahitthafongkul, who grew up in Bangkok, first visited South Korea after finishing high school, when Big Bang was her favorite pop group. She has lived in Seoul, the nation’s capital, for five years, getting her master’s degree at Yonsei University and working in marketing. The nation’s “rich food scene” and “convenient lifestyle” drew her to stay in the country, she said. Its lively drinking culture helped her make friends.

在曼谷长大的翁吉拉·玛希塔蓬坤高中毕业后第一次去韩国，当时Big Bang是她最喜欢的流行组合。她在韩国首都首尔生活了五年，在延世大学获得硕士学位，从事市场营销工作。她说，这个国家“丰富的美食”和“方便的生活方式”吸引着她留下。这里热闹的饮酒文化帮助她结交了朋友。

2023年，地标性建筑南山首尔塔亮起紫色灯光，庆祝防弹少年团成立十周年。

Still, she said, “there is always some level of discrimination as a foreigner, and I’ve come to accept that.”

不过，她说，“作为外国人，总会受到某种程度的歧视，我已经接受了这一点。”

Government surveys show that many immigrants have experienced some form of discrimination.

政府调查显示，许多移民都经历过某种形式的歧视。

“South Korean society has been pretty strict in that you need to look or act a certain way to be accepted,” said Mr. Cha, the music critic. But as it draws more visitors, he said it is only a matter of time before the nation becomes more accepting.

乐评人车宇晋说，“你需要有特定的外表或行为才能被接受。”但他说，随着游客越来越多，这个国家变得更加包容只是时间问题。