Nearly three out of every four South Korean exporters believe their overseas sales have been boosted by the growing popularity of the country's pop culture in other countries, a survey showed Sunday.
In a recent poll conducted by the Korea International Trade Association on its member companies, 74.6 percent of the 807 firms surveyed said the Korean Wave, or "hallyu" in Korean, had positive effects on their overseas marketing efforts.
For instance, a local sunglasses manufacturer's sales spiked from a mere 100 million won ($85,000) in 2011 to over 50 billion won in 2015 after some of its products enjoyed global exposure through the mega-hit Korean TV series "My Love from the Star," according to KITA.
Of those surveyed, 16.1 percent said their sales have directly benefited from hallyu, while 42.9 percent said they planned to actively utilize the widespread popularity of South Korean pop culture in their overseas marketing campaigns. (Yonhap)
