As I am writing this weekly message…I feel my reality has entered a new chapter already. As it always happens to me after a long distance travel.
In life, most of the things we do are frequency based.
We meet people based on our frequency, we develop careers based on our frequency, we love based on whatever our frequency is.
Whether we like it or not, things in our lives change when we decide to change. And when we begin to radiate a new set of energies.
The idea that “life is based on frequency” draws heavily from interpretations of quantum physics, particularly from the foundational notion that everything in the universe is made up of energy vibrating at different frequencies.
Einstein’s famous equation, E = mc², tells us that mass and energy are interchangeable. This means that all matter, including our bodies and thoughts, is essentially condensed energy vibrating at different frequencies.
In quantum theory, particles can behave like waves. This implies that we – and everything around us – emit and receive vibrational frequencies, even if we’re not consciously aware of them.
So you see…we are here together because we vibrate on the same length. Isn’t it a beautifully scientific way to understand the magic of life?
Probably this is what happened also with me and South Korea. I have never desired to go there. Nor was this a country on my bucket list. In my immediate vicinity, no friend, lover, parent, collaborator mentioned the country of “the morning calm”.
Yes, I grew up with several Korean brands (cars, audio equipment), but travelling to its monsoon-ish shores…neah, na’ ma’!
I have never wanted to go to South Korea.
But I guess, just like it happens with a lot of meaningful things in our lives, you need to get curious about the other one, before you get in a healthy relationship.
South Korea found me, not the other way around. And for a longtime traveler like I am, when such energies come my way, I have to respond in a positive way.
Isn’t it a beautifully scientific way to understand the magic of life?
From then on, SK just took over a significant slice of my everyday life. I got immersed in the culture, the language, the movies, the music, the history, the documentaries. It became almost like a daily task to see what’s new on the SK scene.
Hallyu was part of my daily habits but most significantly, my heart.
The Korean Wave, or hallyu , is a cultural phenomenon in which the global popularity of South Korean popular culture has dramatically risen since the 1990s. Worldwide interest in Korean culture has been led primarily by the spread of K-pop, K-dramas, and films, with keystone successes including K-pop groups BTS and Blackpink, the Oscar-winning film Parasite (2019), and the television series Squid Game . The Korean Wave has been recognised as a form of soft power and as an important economic asset for South Korea, generating revenue through both exports and tourism.
Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the end of military censorship over the South Korean entertainment industry, the country emerged as a major exporter of popular culture. The Korean Wave was first driven by the spread of K-dramas and Korean cinema into East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia, following the rise of satellite media in the late 1990s. Chinese journalists first coined the term Korean Wave in 1999, referring to the success of Korean popular culture in the world. During the 2000s, hallyu evolved into a global phenomenon, expanding rapidly into the rest of Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. By 2008, the value of cultural exports from South Korea surpassed that of cultural imports for the first time.
We’re watching Korean dramas, TV series (Squid Game just became the most watched in Netflix history), movies, listening to k-music (yes, it goes beyond BTS and Black Pink into extremely tasty modern and old music), eating ramen and dubu, exploring their healing techniques and spirituality, using beauty treatments and products, etc.
Most of our urge to visit SK really comes from their prolonged multi-year effort to ingrain our minds with hallyu ingredients.
What started as regional popularity in East Asia has become a full-blown cultural shift, influencing how millions of people around the world express themselves, connect, and consume. The global impact is undeniable: Gen Zs and Millennials from Brazil to Romania are learning Korean, following Seoul fashion trends, and seeing Asian artists as aspirational figures. The East is no longer a cultural “other”.
Korea is not a trendsetter anymore, it is a cultural epicentre.
And if you don’t believe me, then I’ll serve you some stats and figures.
- In 2024, South Korea’s cultural exports spanning music, film, TV, fashion, beauty, and gaming surged to approximately USD 13.6 billion
- Korean music exports alone accounted for USD 1.85 billion in 2024, about 13.6% of total cultural exports.
- K‑pop as a sector generated approximately USD 900 million in 2023, up 33% from 2022.
- K‑dramas and Korean films significantly boosted export earnings: in 2022 alone, TV content sales abroad surpassed USD 560 million, a 30% increase from 2021.
- In 2024, 32% of international visitors (out of 16.37 million total arrivals) cited Hallyu motivations.
- Tourism exports linked to Hallyu were estimated at USD 2.4 billion in 2023, making up 17% of total Hallyu export revenue
- Global soft‑power rankings rose: South Korea ranks 12th overall and 7th in arts & entertainment.
From 2023–2025, Hallyu has consistently generated USD 13–14 billion+ annually in cultural exports. K‑pop remains the lead force with nearly USD 2 billion in music export plus USD 900 million in 2023 specifically for K‑pop. Streaming, beauty, tourism, and education are all riding this wave alongside an expanding global fanbase of over 200 million.
Now, in my own experience, a lot of these claims are actually grounded in a culture and way of living that is definitely supporting this trend. I’ve only visited Seoul and Busan, the 2 biggest cities, so my views are still limited to the bustling areas. And I know SK is much more beyond this.
In SK you just become an instant walker.
Though they have one of the most organised transportation system (as I always say, you can’t get lost in a city with such a transportation architecture and signalistics). But we’ve walked a lot, some day with up to 20 km. It wasn’t because we wanted to, but mainly because the infrastructure is, I believe, designed to encourage walking, climbing stairs, moving your body. I have not seen fat people, beer-belly men and so on. And the culture of outdoor walking might have a lot to do with it. The streets of both Busan and Seoul are coloured. Yes, with paint, but also with interlinked alleys, luminous commercial signs, people, sounds, curiosity, novelty.
Uber had significantly lower prices than I experience in Bucharest, which was not only odd but also reinvigorating.
The culture of coffee is I think one of the most surprising I’ve seen. People do drink a lot of cophy (how they pronounce it), Ais Americanu in particular.
Coffee places are some of the most creative spaces in cities. Owners have clean, imaginative and mind-bending ideas about how to name it, how to design it, what to offer, how to talk to you, etc. This shows inherently a pursuit of creativity even at a small scale, that makes the travellers’ experience a more immersive one.
They’ve got a borough for any taste. For the city dwellers there’s Gangnam, for the romantic traditionalists there’s Bukchon, for the youngsters there’s Seongsu and so on. You just need to draw the day according to the mood and openness to exploration.
I’ve felt people are not so different from our energy. But they looked at our group in a different way. I could see maybe sometimes how they envied us for dressing in a certain way or for our blonde hair. Other times, I felt like I could pass by without being seen. Many Korean people in the urban areas are seriously linked to their phones (probably many of them Samsung). They constantly text, watch, scroll, swipe. Even when they are walking or crossing the streets, actually the red and green lights are embroidered in the sidewalk so that they know when to cross and when to wait. It’s been a weird mix of: I can get along with them meeting I don’t know how to connect with them. Most of the times, what was really spoken was through the eyes. We understood each other, rejected each other, judged each other by simply meeting their eyes. Nothing more was needed. Respect for the elders is a must. When you travel with the subway, when you order food, when you stay in a line. This is an important part of a very hierarchical society in which even a 1 year difference means polite formulas of speaking are necessary. Many times unfortunately their use of English was limited to a couple of words. They might have understood me, but they couldn’t definitely utter an answer. Which is counterintuitive, as statistics mention a total number of foreign residents teaching English in Korea around approximately 43,000, among them around 22 000–24 000 are native-English-speaking instructors employed in public schools, hagwons, universities, etc. I was kind of shocked to find that they are not extremely good with directions as well. But then again, use your Internet, Google Maps (I did not go along with Naver, sorry, but it was useless) and yes, chatgpt came in very handy while I was guiding my group on the road. Other than that a lot of tour ideas are just a google search away or in apps like Klook.
I felt safe almost always. But I was this time in a group that I guided. There are stories about people following you on the streets maybe later at night in certain areas or hidden cameras in women’s toilets.
The air was definitely a problem especially in Seoul. I remember doing the daily travelling itinerary and consulting 2 basic apps: AccuWeather/Korean Weather System and AirHelp. Many days, dust or toxic air particles are coming from China and damage the breathing quality. Some wear masks even in hot weather due to this phenomenon.
Clothing and fashion creativity I think really depends on your perspective. I myself did not find it extremely inspiring. But newer spaces in Seoul like Seong-su or Hongdae showed a lot of potential though.
We chose maybe one of the best times to visit SK, early summer, before their summerish monsoon hits the entire peninsula. I saw less tourists than in other places though and it was less crowded than expected. Don’t be fooled though by the early summer thing. It was hot, humid and nowhere to escape it. Layers of clothing were part of the daily packing though, as subways tend to use a lot of air conditioning going evenr lower than 15 degrees Celsius.
Food is available almost anywhere, and there’s a wide variety. In restaurants, in supermarkets, on food stands. The culture of food is alive and kicking in South Korea. Spend some days there and you might just find yourself asking for a hotteuk during brunch hours even when you’re back home. We remained loyal to Korean and Japanese, sometimes to Vietnamese. But Asian food was definitely the highlight. We tried it all, from small, family owned restaurants to places near the sea or in the middle of the traffic. And as a person who’s dealing with serious food intolerance, I felt extremely good during the entire trip. Gluten also, yes, has nothing to do with European gluten.
In SK, true gold is found in the small things. The way parks are designed, in that small clay walking-trail in the park, in the hair treatment that revives your hair, in the soju you drink with your friends while glancing over the small beaches of Busan. In the pace of Gangnam, the glances of elderly while you wear something too shiny, in the bamboo forests, in the soups that confort your gut and your heart. In the melancholic music that whispers years of colonial suffering and a longing for being free. In the way you would want to save them from being totally glued to the phone while missing the sunset over Han River. In the Namsan Tower views. In the caffe built near a man-made waterfall. In all the colours of pachinkos and all the subway jingles. In the rhythm of the Korean language you might just think you know from watching countless hours of k-drama. I won’t get into the beauty treatments because as a product user, I am already into the Korean beauty industry. Best treatments, skin products ever. GUARANTEED!
Somebody told me onetime after reading one of my astrology essays that “It seems I am writing from a very faraway place”. And yes, I find my solace when I leave my origin country, it’s odd, but I have always been this way. Like I am not only writing, but vibrating from somewhere distant. This is how I can connect in an instant to any culture, language, way of life.
South Korea, you locked my soul in your hallway in such a lovely way. I will never forget you!
Kamsahamnida (감사합니다) to all the country’s people for guiding us, talking to us, hosting us, cooking for us and making our journey safe.
Until next week, safe travels to you!
#WomenAreHealing #Travelling