_{BY: TEMILOLUWA BELLA}

It is no surprise that everyone has heard of the Hallyu wave, a popular term for the Korean wave. But is even more surprising that the Hallyu wave has taken over Nigeria. From Drama to Music to even cuisine, the Hallyu wave has taken the country by storm.

Though people aren’t familiar with the term in general, they are aware of one or two things. Today, we are going to talk about what has made the Hallyu wave so popular in Nigeria.

HOW IT STARTED

It all started when famous series like Jumong stole the hearts of Nigerian youths, especially the female population. The main reason for this was because of the exquisite beauty of the male actors. The way they could pull such masculine and soft looks at the same time. It was at this point that most females tagged actor Lee Min Ho as their husbands. 

NOW…

Recently, over 80% of Nigeria’s population has said that they have watched K-Dramas at some point in their life, whether they watched it only once or they watch it continuously. The different genres portrayed have their own way of capturing the hearts of any viewer that decides to watch it for the first time. If not for the actors, people become interested in k-dramas of their food and dressing, both traditional and modern. It is not only K-Dramas that have captured the hearts of viewers, but Kpop also. People become interested in Kpop from the OSTs of different Kdramas. From there, they started to look into these songs and have therefore become fans of the artists. Many of these artists have made a name for themselves as you won’t find a Nigerian-Korean fan that won’t tell you that Kpop is one of the main reasons why they became interested in Korean culture. 

OTHER INFLUENCES

As stated earlier, Kpop and Kdramas aren’t the only reasons, people are into Korean culture. The food, dressing, and skincare have a lot of influences. Just by watching the Kdramas, the food they portray is enough to make you salivate from your seat. How they make their food so appetizing, no one knows. Personally, I can’t watch a food scene without eating something myself. They have a way of making you hungry, though it just never hits the spot.

Their dressing is also one of a kind. As Korea has become one of the major inspirations for the fashion revolution. Their fashion styles have a way of making you feel either cute, sexy or elegant, depending on whatever you wear and we are here for that. 

As for skincare, they also top the charts. How else do you think those ethereal faces came to be? They have a very simple and extensive routine as they don’t take their skincare lightly. Most Korean stars have mentioned that they visit dermatologists at least twice a week.

No wonder all that hard work paid off. Anyone can follow their routine if they just know what products work best for them.

So, what was your reason for becoming a Nigerian-Korean fan? And how did the Hallyu wave influence you? Share your thoughts.