SEOUL, April 13 (AJP) — Hanbok is everywhere — on global stages, red carpets and tourist hotspots. Recognition, however, remains elusive.
From BTS’s Gwanghwamun comeback performance in armor-inspired hanbok to the Oscar-stage showcase of K-pop Demon Hunters, Korean traditional dress is increasingly projected onto the global screen. The imagery travels easily. It resonates visually. To many, it simply registers as something “cool.”
But familiarity stops there.
Samuel Chung, chairman of the Korean Culture Association who has spent nearly two decades promoting hanbok abroad, draws a clear line between exposure and understanding.
“It is seriously misleading to think hanbok is as popular as K-wave,” Chung said. “Only about 5 percent of foreigners can truly identify hanbok.”
“To the 95 percent, hanbok cannot be differentiated from Chinese clothing hanfu or Japanese kimono.”
The disconnect is borne out in data. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, favorability toward Korean cultural content reached 69.7 percent in the 2026 Overseas Hallyu Survey. Yet global interest remains concentrated in food, music and television, with traditional culture largely absent from primary recognition categories.
“Even when people see hanbok, many can’t tell whether it’s Korean, Japanese or Chinese,” Chung said.
“They cannot tell if they are wearing the Korean traditional wardrobe from the giant ads of Korean celebrities at Times Square in New York.”
“Simply put, foreigners can tell Shin Ramyun from non-Korean instant noodles, but cannot tell the difference in the traditional Asian wear.”
Chung attributes the gap not to a lack of exposure, but to the absence of clear identity-building.
“We take it for granted as our own culture, but overseas perception is entirely different,” he said.
“The more attention, the greater Korea should pay to the original identity.”
That tension is visible on the ground. At major heritage sites such as Gyeongbokgung Palace and Bukchon Hanok Village, hanbok-clad visitors have become a defining scene. The number has surged from about 150,000 in 2020 to more than 2 million in 2024, according to the Korea Heritage Service.
Yet many of the outfits worn by tourists bear only a loose resemblance to traditional hanbok — often simplified, over-stylized and mass-produced abroad.
“The rentals not just derail from the original form but also cannot be claimed Korean at all as they are produced in China,” Chung said.
Price has driven that shift. A domestically made hanbok costs around 400,000 won, while imported versions can be sourced for as little as 10,000 to 20,000 won.
The Korea Heritage Service allows modernized hanbok at palace sites but stresses adherence to core structure, advising against heavily mixed styles such as pairing a jeogori with jeans.
For Chung, however, the issue runs deeper than design.
He recalls being greeted with “ni hao” while wearing hanbok in front of the Eiffel Tower — a moment that, for him, encapsulates the blurred identity of Korean traditional dress abroad.
The problem, he warns, could intensify in the age of artificial intelligence.
“The misrepresentation can deepen in the AI era,” he said.
“If information and visual references on hanbok lag behind those of kimono or hanfu, distorted perceptions can take hold more quickly.”
Concerns are already emerging. Generative AI models often return Japanese-style clothing or mixed East Asian imagery when prompted with “hanbok.”
A 2025 study by researchers at Chung-Ang University found that leading vision-language models frequently misidentified hanbok, describing it as Japanese attire or unrelated cultural garments — a pattern attributed to imbalances in training data.
The disparity is also visible in global search trends. Interest in “kimono” has consistently outpaced “hanbok” by more than tenfold.
“We shouldn’t assume hanbok is widely recognized just because K-pop stars wear it,” Chung said.
Efforts to address the gap are now beginning to take shape. First lady Kim Hye-kyung recently hosted a meeting at the presidential office to support UNESCO recognition of hanbok culture, signaling a more coordinated push.
“Government moves through systems and policy, while the private sector builds relationships on the ground. Both need to work together,” Chung said.
For Chung, the solution begins with familiarity — not as an abstract concept, but as lived experience.
“Culture isn’t about competition — it’s about familiarity,” he said. “It spreads not just by being shown, but by being worn and experienced.”
His organization has pursued that approach through global events, including fashion shows, exhibitions and the Hanbok Model Contest, which emphasizes participation over spectacle.
“Modeling is something anyone can take part in,” Chung said. “In a globally accessible format, it becomes a powerful way to present hanbok visually — even without language.”
“The moment someone steps on stage in hanbok, it becomes cultural diplomacy.”
Yet at home, hanbok faces a different challenge — one of contraction.
“Hanbok has largely disappeared from everyday life and largely exists ceremonial and symbolic,” Chung said.
“Hanbok should not be something people simply experience — it should be part of everyday life.”
For hanbok to be recognized as distinctly Korean, he argues, it must move beyond being consumed as a “Korean-style” costume.
“What is needed now is not the confidence that hanbok is already global, but a recognition that it is still not fully understood.”
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