I wrote a series called "Reporter Yeon Seung's Exploration of India" for two years starting in 2023. My interest in India remains strong enough that I would like to resume the series, and recently some welcome news arrived. The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) wrapped up the 2026 Korea-India K-Content Biz Week in India, and HYBE (352820) announced it is expanding the scale of its Indian girl group auditions.
The India I encountered during a short-term regional expert training program run by the Korea Press Foundation was not a country defined only by curry and yoga, or by negative issues such as sexual assault cases and unsanitary food. That is why the series was able to deliver fresh and interesting news about the country.
The reason I bring up India in this column is the high level of affection Indians feel toward Koreans — enough to inspire a half-joking remark that "Koreans who visit India come back thinking they are celebrities."
Since 2020, Korean has been designated as a second foreign language in India's high school curriculum. As diplomatic tensions with China flared, Korean took the place of Chinese as a second foreign language. The Korean studies department at Jawaharlal Nehru University — which could be called India's equivalent of Seoul National University — saw a 3,300-to-1 admission ratio in 2022. Literally, India's brightest students are learning Korean.
The popularity of K-content is hotter than expected. But many people there said they regretted having few opportunities to see Korean artists or actors in person. That made the news from KOCCA and HYBE all the more welcome.
From Consumer Market to Business Market
The 2026 Korea-India K-Content Biz Week, held by KOCCA in New Delhi from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, drew 20 Korean content companies and 67 Indian content companies. Over three days, the event produced 329 export consultation sessions worth $28.81 million (about 39.2 billion won). Three export contracts and 31 memorandums of understanding were also signed.
The numbers are impressive, but the approach deserves more attention. This was not an event that merely introduced Korean content and ended there. It moved through stages: forums to understand the local market, intellectual property pitching, expert consultations on legal, tax, trademark, trade and distribution matters, and one-on-one export consultations.
Korean IP across animation, characters, broadcasting and games was introduced to Indian buyers, and production technologies for short-form video, animation and drama using artificial intelligence were also showcased.
The way K-content views India is shifting — from "a country that likes Korean content" to "a country we can do business with."
With a population of more than 1.4 billion, India is a market content companies cannot afford to pass up. The country also has a large young population, and content consumption through smartphones and online platforms is expanding rapidly.
It is also notable that KOCCA carried forward the contacts it made with local companies at an event held in Mumbai in May to this Biz Week. In effect, it is building a ladder into the Indian market — finding local companies, holding consultations and converting them into contracts.
This Time, Indians as the Stars of K-Pop
HYBE Sets Its Sights on India, a Market of 1.4 Billion
HYBE's moves are even more interesting. With expansion into China effectively blocked, the company is taking direct aim at India, which has overtaken China as the world's most populous country. Analysts see it as a move that recognizes the passing of the era when being No. 1 in China meant being No. 1 in the world, and the arrival of an era when being No. 1 in India means being No. 1 in the world.
HYBE India expanded the scale of the girl group auditions it launched in March, buoyed by the enthusiastic response. To the in-person auditions previously held in 10 Indian cities and five overseas cities, it added eight cities: Lucknow, Dimapur, Kohima, Shillong, Jaipur, Indore, Goa and Kochi. The total number of in-person audition sites rose to 23 cities.
More striking is the scale of the applicant pool. Applicants of Indian descent poured in from all 28 Indian states and six union territories, as well as from more than 1,650 cities across 116 countries.
This is not simply a story about K-pop being popular in India. It means that beyond fans who consume K-pop in India, people are emerging who want to become global artists themselves through the K-pop system.
The global girl group KATSEYE symbolizes this shift. Created jointly by HYBE and Geffen Records of the United States, KATSEYE includes member Lara, an artist with Indian roots. In the process of the K-pop system built in Korea expanding through the United States onto the global stage, an artist of Indian descent has taken a place as a core member.
The "multi-home, multi-genre" strategy HYBE has pursued in the United States, Japan and Latin America now appears to be moving into full gear in India. What matters is that this is not simply about exporting K-pop to India. The company is moving toward finding Indian talent directly, developing it through the K-pop system and putting it on the global stage.
Perhaps this is the biggest reason my interest in India has been renewed. When I first reported on India, the country was, to Koreans, closer to a curiosity. Now India has risen to become one of the important partners Korea should watch in the K-content industry.
Students who beat odds of thousands to one to study Korean, fans who enjoy Korean dramas and K-pop but regretted having no chance to meet Korean artists in person, and now young people flocking to auditions to become K-pop artists themselves.
K-content's push into India may only now be truly beginning. If I were to restart "Reporter Yeon Seung's Exploration of India," I found myself thinking I would want to follow the new India that K-content is shaping. I still vividly remember the strangeness of first arriving in India, how the country grew more interesting over time, and how intensely warm its love for Korea was.
Yeon Seung's Entertainment Talk
This column picks out the hottest issues and most talked-about content in the entertainment industry each week. From news about actors and K-pop artists to hits and trends in film, drama, streaming services and K-pop, it unpacks entertainment news that is too good to pass by, in an easy and engaging way.
