A scene from HYBE EDU’s new Korean learning program “Blackpink in Your Korean” / Courtesy of HYBE EDU

The global popularity of K-pop has led to a new interest in learning Korean. The latest trend has prompted K-pop entertainment giants to release new learning materials for global fans.

SM Entertainment, which has nurtured hugely popular K-pop groups like Girls’ Generation and SHINee, recently revealed that its subsidiary SM Culture Partners has joined hands with local broadcaster MBC to invest in an educational tech startup called Koylabs, launched on March 29.

Koylabs’ language learning program uses Korean TV programs, K-pop and other content to simultaneously introduce Korean culture. 

With this deal, the startup will be utilizing MBC and SM Entertainment’s intellectual property for its learning materials and will provide its service to universities around the world. It is currently running a beta service in a number of colleges in Vietnam.

Another K-pop powerhouse, HYBE, home to BTS, has also entered the Korean language instruction business with its affiliate HYBE Edu.

Early last month, HYBE Edu partnered with YG Entertainment to roll out a new program for teaching Korean that draws on K-pop girl group BLACKPINK’s intellectual property and global fan base.

The learning material is called "Blackpink in Your Korean” and follows the adventures of a fan who gets invited to the group’s communal home and spends time with them. In addition to standard Korean vocabulary and expressions, users learn common phrases that frequently appear in previously released Blackpink video content. HYBE EDU creators believe this will help fans learn Korean more effectively.

HYBE EDU previously released Korean learning materials using the K-pop juggernaut BTS, such as “Learn! Korean with BTS” and “Talk! with BTS” for the group’s foreign fans.

The company partnered with the Korea Foundation and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies to present Korean language educational programs around the world. “Learn! Korean with BTS” has been turned into a textbook and instructional program that is currently available at nine colleges in seven different countries, including The University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, Middlebury College in the United States and EDHEC Business School in France.

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