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From everyone rooting for Hwasa to dancing to Soda Pop, there are a plethora of moments from the Hallyu Wave that shifted the pop culture moment this year!
From celebrity moments to trends that completely took over our social media feeds, Korean pop culture delivered surprise after surprise this year, often in ways no one could have predicted. 2025 felt like a whirlwind for K-pop and K-dramas alike, where on-screen chemistry spilled into real-life conversations and unexpected crossovers pushed Korean entertainment deeper into mainstream pop culture worldwide. Fans weren’t just watching these moments unfold; they were actively recreating them through dance challenges, edits, memes, and discussions that dominated timelines and even made their way to prime-time news.
Whether it was Hwasa’s viral ‘Good Goodbye’ moment re-instilling our faith in romance, beloved real-life couples like Shin Min-Ah–Kim Woo-Bin and Hyun-Bin–Son Ye-Jin giving fans heart-fluttering public appearances, or BTS finally reuniting with ARMYs after their military service, each moment felt bigger than just a headline, it felt personal. Add to that record-breaking solo eras from artists like Jennie and J-Hope, global stages being taken over by groups like Twice and Le Sserafim, and surprise successes such as K-pop Demon Huntersand Kim Seon-Ho’s scene-stealing cameo, became clear that Korean pop culture thrived on the unexpected this year. These are the moments that shocked us, moved us, and reminded us why Hallyu continues to shape global entertainment in the most surprising ways!
Also Read: Korean reality shows bring twice the drama and we’re hooked from start to finish!
Check it out!
Good Goodbye moment for Hwasa!
The insane chemistry between Hwasa and Park Jeong-Min struck a chord with millions of people around the world. When the two were seen sharing a sweet moment at an award function recently, the clip went viral leading to everyone trying to re-create the hook step of the song. Many wished for them to actually start dating IRL to the point where it was discussed on prime time Korean news channels as well!
Shin Min-Ah and Kim Wo-Bin finally tie the knot!
The entire K-drama fandom has known that the two popular stars have been dating for a decade now and their marriage announcement came as a sweet surprise at the end of the year. Kim Woo-Bin even wrote a letter to his fans which garnered him a lot of love online.
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K-pop supergroup BTS’ highly anticipated return from the military
After a long wait of three years that basically felt like forever, all seven members of BTS officially completed their military discharge earlier this year. BTS Armys around the world celebrated their discharge with events, pop-ups and dance challenges on Instagram. For many, it felt like the good old days were back as the members began to interact with fans and kickstarted their solo projects as soon as they were out. The fans are now eagerly awaiting for the K-pop super group’s comeback and see what the new album is all about!
J-Hope’s Killin’ It Girl dance challenge taking over
This year was all about J-hope! With three new hit songs and a world tour, he really topped charts this year. His song Killin’ It Girl went viral for its choreography and lyrics and hence social media wasted no time in posting dance challenges on the song!
Hyun-Bin and Son Ye-Jin winning awards together!
Crash Landing On You stars Hyun-Bin and Son Ye-Jin who are now married IRL were seen together post their marriage for the first time at an award show. Both of them not only bagged awards for Best Actor and Actress respectively, but also thanked each other on stage for being a supportive partner! It is rare to see K-drama couples openly embrace their relationship in public and hence seeing the two together after a long time became a reason to make multiple romantic edits on Instagram.
Twice singing at the Victoria Secret fashion show
K-pop girl group Twice gave an unforgettable performance at the Victoria Secret Fashion show this year. For their set, Twice members Nayeon, Jihyo, Tzuyu, and Momo introduced the ‘Class of Pink 2025’ with energetic performances of their hit songs ‘This Is For’ and ‘Strategy.’ What also became the talk of the town was Tzuyu’s favourite bra from the collection that went insanely viral amongst women around the world!
K-pop Demon Hunters - a success story we didn’t see coming in 2025!
A huge part of 2025 went into the world being obsessed with K-pop Demon Hunters. Even audience demographics who are not usually into Korean culture were talking about the film and it solely became popular through word of mouth. Songs like Soda Pop and Golden broke records and are actually being considered for Grammy and Oscar nominations next year!
Kim Seon-Ho’s small role in When Life Gives You Tangerines made a huge impact on social media!
Kim Seon-Ho played IU’s love interest in When Life Gives You Tangerines and one of the scenes that went viral from the show was his reaction to her in her wedding dress. The ‘smile trend’ became everyone’s obsession on Instagram, from couples, celebrities to fan edits being made on it!
Le Sserafim dancing to the Hindi AI version of their new song Spaghetti
Le Sserafim released their new single ‘Spaghetti’ along with J-Hope of BTS this year. Everything from the music video to the album packaged as a spaghetti box was discussed on social media. But what became a pop culture moment was the K-pop group dancing to the Hindi AI version of the song. While Indian fans had already listened to the AI version and thought it was rather bizarre, nobody could have guessed that it would actually reach the group and they would dance on it too!
Jennie’s solo album broke records and started a trend for ‘Like Jennie’ on social media
Jennie of Blackpink released her first solo album this year and her main title track’s choreo was super catchy to watch and learn. Many influencers caught on to it and the song became a sensation on the internet. She also headlined Coachella all by herself this year and her album garnered a lot of love and awards which proved her talent as a solo artist as well!
Which of these pop culture moments is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
This article is a part of our #LetsKetchup series that sums up the year from our perspective!
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