K-Pop growth before the global phenomenon

For the Pudding, Minji Kim and Eunice Lee wrote about the growth of K-Pop through the lens of their friendship.

Minji and I first met when we were nine years old, at a Korean language school that operated out of a high school on Saturday mornings. We were kids in the late ’90s in the suburbs of Detroit, where hanging out meant going to each other’s houses doing nothing. For us, though, we had a familiar routine: drink aloe, eat Korean snacks, and sit cross-legged on the floor of her family’s living room while listening to BoA’s “No. 1” on repeat.

I got my introduction to K-Pop around the same time when my friend gave me a Fin.K.L. compact disc. The fandom confused me then and it confuses me now, but it is a fun trend to observe from the sidelines.