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What does it mean to watch Korea go from a personal interest shared by a relatively small international community to a culture with a truly global audience? For Dianne Kim, it is a transformation she has experienced firsthand. Originally from the Philippines, Dianne first visited Korea in 2012, after already being a fan of K-dramas and K-pop since the 2000s. What began as a personal interest eventually became a career: from covering Seoul Fashion Week and writing for international media to authoring books about Korean pop culture and fashion. Today, she works as the social media and content manager for @korea.travelholic, one of the biggest Korea travel media accounts.
Having experienced Korea before its current global visibility and witnessed how the country has changed, Dianne offers a unique perspective on the Korean Wave—not only how it has grown, but also how international audiences understand Korea. In this interview, we explore the evolution of Hallyu, what it means to document Korean culture for an international audience, the story behind her latest book Little Book of Seoul Style, and why she believes there is still so much more to Korea than what we see online.
Experiencing the Korean Wave Before Its Worldwide Rise
When Dianne first became interested in Korean culture, K-dramas and K-pop were far from the global phenomena they are today. She had been following them since the 2000s, at a time when, as she remembers it, being a fan was still considered somewhat niche.
Her first visit to Korea came in 2012, and the experience immediately deepened her interest. She fell in love with the country's culture, food, places, and people. Later, the opportunity to cover Seoul Fashion Week for a digital outlet gave her another reason to return, and she eventually found herself coming back for almost every fashion season.
Looking back, Dianne describes the growth of Hallyu as remarkable. There was a time when people would ask her why she kept booking flights to Korea. Today, international travelers are putting Korea at the top of their travel bucket lists.
But for Dianne, the Korean Wave is about much more than the entertainment that first introduced many people to the country.
“K-dramas, K-pop, and K-food may be what first draws people in, but there is so much more to discover beyond them,” she explains.
As Korean culture has become more accessible around the world, she hopes international audiences will become curious about what lies behind the things they already know. Rather than focusing only on what they see and consume, she wants people to explore the “why”—the history, values, and everyday life that made Korean culture what it is today.
This is also why Dianne has always been interested in digging into the history behind Korean pop culture when writing her books. For her, understanding Korea means going beyond its most visible exports and exploring the context that surrounds them.
Telling Korea's Story to the World
As Hallyu has grown, so has the way people discover Korea.
Dianne has experienced this change through her own work. She has moved from print to digital, reaching a much wider audience and becoming part of a growing community of creators introducing Korea to people around the world.
One of the most rewarding parts of that work is seeing what happens after someone encounters Korea through something she has written or recommended.
Readers have sent her photos of her books spotted in bookstores around the world and told her that they made them want to visit Korea. Others have told her that they visited a place or tried a dish she recommended and had a great time.
For Dianne, those moments are meaningful because they show that even a small piece of information can help someone understand and enjoy Korea more easily.
That exchange has become much easier as social media has made first-hand information more accessible. International audiences can now hear directly from people experiencing Korea, while communities of international residents and visitors have more support and information at their fingertips than they did when Dianne first arrived.
But greater visibility can also create its own problems.
Dianne believes one of the biggest issues with how Korea is represented online is its romanticization. Korea can be a wonderful place to travel, but, as she points out, living there day-to-day can be extremely different.
She also sees a tendency to equate Korea with Seoul alone.
Living well outside the city, close to the countryside, has allowed Dianne to experience a different side of the country, from mountains to the coast. Rather than keeping those experiences within the usual Seoul-centric view of Korea, she hopes more visitors will explore other regions and support smaller communities and industries.
For her, telling Korea's story also means making space for the places and people that do not always make it into the international spotlight.
Seoul Style: Where Heritage Meets Modernity
Dianne's interest in Korean fashion began during her very first visit to Korea. What caught her attention was the way Korean fashion can look sleek and contemporary while still carrying traces of Korean cultural heritage.
That relationship between the traditional and the modern became an important part of her latest book, Little Book of Seoul Style.
Rather than looking at fashion as something separate from Korean culture, Dianne sees it as another way to understand the country.
She points to dancheong, the vivid traditional patterns once used to decorate palaces and temples, and hanji, Korea's traditional handmade mulberry paper. Elements of both can be reinterpreted in contemporary fashion through colour, texture, and print.
For Dianne, this ability to absorb global influences while maintaining a connection to Korean heritage is one of the most fascinating aspects of the country's fashion scene.
And Seoul's fashion identity has changed considerably over the years.
Dianne describes a shift from Seoul being seen as a follower of international trends to becoming a trendsetter in its own right. While Korean fashion once took significant cues from cities such as Paris, Milan, and Tokyo, Seoul now has its own street style, silhouettes, and designers that international markets look toward.
What makes Seoul particularly interesting to her is the personal and expressive nature of its street fashion. Style is not simply about keeping up with seasonal trends. It can also be a form of self-presentation, closely connected to identity and mood.
One concept she explores in her book captures this perfectly: kku-an-kku (꾸안꾸), short for kkumin deut an kkumin deut (꾸민 듯 안 꾸민 듯), or “styled to look unstyled.”
The idea is simple on the surface: an outfit appears effortless, but every detail has actually been considered.
For Dianne, there is a real skill in that restraint. Knowing what to leave out can be just as important as knowing what to add. Combined with creativity, it allows even simple colors and silhouettes to become something distinctive and contemporary.
It is this balance of individuality, discipline, and heritage that she finds particularly unique to Seoul's approach to fashion.
Korea Today: What Comes Next for Hallyu?
As Korea's global influence continues to grow, Dianne is also paying attention to what comes next.
One trend she sees emerging across Korean food, entertainment, and fashion is a return to “retro chic.” On Korean social media, this is reflected in the term halmaenial, a combination of halmoni (grandmother) and “millennial,” describing a style and mindset influenced by older generations.
For Dianne, this interest in the past comes at an interesting moment. As technology makes it increasingly difficult to distinguish between AI-generated content and human-created content, she sees a growing nostalgia for a time when things felt more distinctly human and less digitally mediated.
She expects this nostalgia to continue appearing in Korean dramas, music, and fashion, but with a Gen Z and Gen Alpha interpretation.
At the same time, she believes international audiences should look beyond the biggest names coming out of Korea.
Dianne points toward smaller independent fashion and beauty brands, regional craftsmanship, and creators documenting life outside Seoul. From coastal towns to mountain villages, these voices offer a more grounded view of everyday Korea.
That shift away from the usual “highlight reel” is something she finds increasingly important as audiences become more familiar with Korea's most visible cultural exports.
And when it comes to the future of Hallyu itself, Dianne does not see entertainment, fashion, beauty, food, design, and lifestyle as separate categories.
Instead, she sees them as connected parts of the same cultural story, all ultimately circling back to the “K” in Korea.
Interestingly, she believes one of the most important parts of Hallyu's next chapter may not be a new entertainment trend at all. It may be Hangul—not simply as something international fans encounter through K-pop, but as something they actively want to learn and understand.
Dianne has noticed that K-pop now uses more English and other languages to reach international audiences. While this openness makes Korean music accessible to more people, she also notes that longtime fans can sometimes miss the Korean lyrics that first drew them to the music.
At the same time, she is seeing more international fans genuinely studying Korean rather than simply learning a few familiar phrases.
For Dianne, this growing interest in the language says something important about the direction of Hallyu. International audiences may be moving toward a deeper engagement with Korea—not simply consuming its culture, but wanting to understand it more fully.
A Foreigner's Perspective on Everyday Korea
After almost ten years of living in Korea, Dianne's relationship with the country has naturally changed.
One of the things she appreciates most about everyday Korean life is its ability to balance two very different rhythms.
There is the fast-paced, constantly evolving side of Korea that international audiences often associate with ppalli ppalli, or “hurry-hurry” culture.
But there is another side that can be easier to miss.
Dianne sees it in Korea's strong cafe culture, weekends spent eating ramyeon by the Han River, and quiet visits to temples.
For her, the contrast between moving quickly and making room for stillness has become something she genuinely loves about life in Korea.
It is also part of why she encourages visitors to experience Korea beyond its most recognizable attractions.
Her advice for first-time visitors is to get out of Seoul, even if only for a day or two. Take a regional train or bus to a smaller city or coastal town and see how differently life moves there.
Visit a traditional market in the morning before it gets busy. Find a local bathhouse instead of choosing only tourist-oriented experiences. And, if possible, talk to small business owners.
A lot of Korea's charm, she believes, can be found in these small, unscripted moments rather than in the landmarks that everyone already knows from social media.
Still Discovering Korea
Perhaps the most striking part of Dianne's perspective is that, despite spending almost a decade living in Korea and building a career around documenting it, she does not feel that she has seen everything.
In fact, that is exactly what continues to excite her.
A new neighbourhood trend, a small regional festival, or a new generation of creators can completely reshape how she sees the country.
There is something reassuring in that perspective. Korea may be more globally visible than ever, but greater visibility does not mean there is nothing left to discover.
For Dianne, watching Korea's global influence grow while continuing to find new and less polished corners of the country is what keeps her work exciting.
And perhaps that is the most valuable lesson for anyone interested in Korea: the more you learn about this country, the more you realize there is still so much left to discover.
Discovering Korea, Together
There may never be just one way to experience Korea. For some, it starts with a K-drama or a song; for others, it might be food, fashion, language, travel, or an unexpected moment in a small neighbourhood. What matters is where that first curiosity takes you.
Dianne's story is a reminder that discovering Korea does not have to stop at the things we already know. At Daebak, we hope to be part of that journey, connecting people around the world with Korean culture, stories, products, and experiences while continuing to discover new sides of Korea together.
Because the more we discover, the more there is to explore.
