Analysis of Malaysian Youths’ Cognizance about K-pop from a Philosophical Viewpoint

Hallyu or the korean wave has reverberated around the globe since the turn of the millennium in 2000, yet the emergence of korean pop (k-pop) has been around even before that, ever since 1992. with such attention upon the k-pop idols, the impact they have – whether good or otherwise – upon youths is inevitable. most researchers tend to study these effects based on economic instruments and psychological factors, thus this research would shed a different light on this issue using philosophy as the social apparatus. methodology implemented was via questionnaires containing eight items related to k-pop disseminated to 100 undergraduates at national university of malaysia (ukm). the findings from the eight items would be covered under the four sub disciplines – axiology (3), epistemology (1), logic (1) and metaphysics (3) and elucidated with these themes respectively: social identity, aesthetics, ethics, theory of knowledge (tok), logical fallacy, determinism, nihilism and possibility-necessity. this study is significant because it gives insight on this social phenomenon with rather abstract yet fundamental concepts in philosophy that lay the foundation for k-pop becoming what it is now, the perception of ongoing idol-fandom interaction, and how the industry will propel in the future.