For more than 60 years, Korea had not made it to U.S. Billboard charts, but starting with Psy’s Gangnam Style in 2012, K-pop’s presence on the charts has been growing with BTS, BlackPink, and Nujins making their splashes.
As K-pop’s status has changed, so has the number of foreigners visiting Korea. According to the first quarter results (provisional) of a 2023 foreign tourist survey released by the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute, the number of foreign arrivals in the first quarter of this year was 1.57 million, a 43 percent jump from 3.61 million in the first quarter of 2019. The overall satisfaction rate for traveling to Korea was 97.3 percent, up 3.4 percentage points from 93.9 percent in the first quarter of 2019.
Tourists who visited South Korea admire the country’s outstanding infrastructure and culture, but there are some unexpected reasons why they want to live in Korea that Koreans may not know.
The first reason is Korea’s strong social safety and security. Leaving a laptop or bag on a coffee shop table and walking away for a while is natural to Koreans, but surprising to foreign tourists. It is also unique to Korea that delivery food is never stolen even if it is left outside the door for a long time, so you can receive it in a non-face-to-face way.
Fast and convenient delivery and shipping are also reasons why foreigners prefer to live in Korea. According to data and analytics platform Data AI’s App Sales Report, the 4th-most-used app by Korean mobile phone users is Coupang with 29.35 million users, and the 7th-most-used app is Baemin Food Delivery Service with 19.79 million users, so a convenient and fast delivery culture is deeply entrenched in Korean life.
However, there is one thing that most people born and raised in Korea do not know but foreigners really love. It is Korea’s water.
In Europe, the soil base is mostly calcareous and many of the water resources are lime water. Mineralized lime is not completely filtered out by a water purification system, causing many inconveniences such as leaving lime on dishes and weakening skin and hair.
In July, CNN reported that chemicals were found in drinking water in major U.S. cities and the concentration of these chemicals were 20 times higher than health standards, so cancer and other diseases were more at risk.
On the other hand, lime water is hard to find in Korea where much of the country is based on granite. The granite acts as a natural filter. Moreover, Korea has well-developed water purification systems. This coupled with Koreans’ strong penchant for clean water has led to the popularization of filter showers to ensure cleaner water at home.
Many foreigners report that their skin feels positively different after taking showers in Korea, saying that long-standing skin rashes and skin diseases have cleared up. On the other hand, many Koreans have experienced the opposite problem with their hair and skin when they go abroad, and filter showers for overseas travels have become a popular item among Korean in duty-free shops recently.
Korea’s water quality is actually excellent. According to the United Nations’ water quality index, Korea’s tap water ranks eighth in the world at 1.27, behind Finland (1.85), Canada (1.45), and New Zealand (1.43). This water quality index was announced in 2003, so Korea’s is highly likely to be much higher today.