10 K-Pop Groups That Are More Popular In Korea Than Internationally

While some groups are more popular internationally than in the domestic market, these 10 K-Pop groups are the opposite and are killing the local game.

1. THE BOYZ

THE BOYZ has a sizeable Korean fanbase and gets a good amount of decent public recognition despite being from a small company, and they were able to garner a lot of fans even pre-debut thanks to their store with 1TheK. Through shows like Kingdom, they have been able to expand both their international and domestic fanbase.

2. Wanna One

Since the Korean public themselves picked Wanna One, they were loved by the public. The Korean society was very involved with Season 2 of Produce 101, and it’s arguably their most successful season. Many international K-Pop fans had commented on how surprised they were with how many advertisements Wanna One had when they were still promoting.

3. BTOB

BTOB is arguably one of the Top 5 boy groups in Korea with how much the general public loves Korea. Their songs consistently rank at the top of the charts, and foreigners coming to Korea say that BTOB merch is everywhere.

4. INFINITE

INFINITE is not as popular internationally as they are in Korea, though they were back in the day. They used to be popular in the West, but it seems that as time went on, their international fandom fizzled out. Thankfully, their fans back home still have their back!

5. NU’EST

NU’EST became big in Korea after the members appeared on the second season of Produce 101. Ever since then, they have been pretty well known in Korea, but they didn’t reach that same level of popularity in the international market.

6. Oh My Girl

For girl groups, Oh My Girl is considerably popular in Korea but does not get the same hype from the global market. They have since gained more attention from their appearance in Queendom, but it seems the Korean public gave more attention to their performances rather than the international viewers.

7. Lovelyz

Like Oh My Girl, Lovelyz is one of the top girl groups in Korea that doesn’t get the same attention from international K-Pop fans. They, too, appeared on Queendom but also received more love from Korean viewers than the global audiences.

8. HIGHLIGHT

HIGHLIGHT has a huge domestic fanbase and gets quite a fair amount of public recognition, which is what made their shift out of CUBE Entertainment easy. Many agree that it’s risky for them to rebrand so late in their careers, but their popularity made it easy for them to do so.

9. BOL4

The female duo always charts in Korea and have won numerous music shows, but as they only sing and don’t dance, they haven’t received much attention from the international market. But if you go to Korea, their music is played everywhere, and they’re a household name!

10. MeloMance

Similar to BOL4, MeloMance is also huge in Korea for being a male duo that sings but doesn’t dance. And like BOL4, they are huge in Korea and are household names, but don’t get nearly the same amount of attention internationally.