(SEOUL=NEWSIS) The Korea Foundation (KF, President Hyun-seok Yu) published a report on the Korean Wave globally in 2014 on January 12. It estimates that there are about 1,248 online Korean Wave communities (21.82 million members) in 79 countries as of December, 2014.

According to the report, there are 267 Korean Wave communities in 23 countries in Asia and the Pacific region including China, an increase from 234 in 2013. There are 17.6 million Korean Wave fans in the region, a 2.5-fold increase from 2013.

The KF analyzed that the exponential growth of online Korean Wave fans is caused by the popularity of Korean dramas, including the mega-hit “My Love from the Star”, which spurred Chinese fans to be active online.

There are about 715 Korean Wave communities in the Americas (excluding commercial sites), a 54 percent increase year-on-year. About 2.6 million Korean fans joined the communities, a 108 percent increase from 2013.

For Europe, the number of communities has decreased from 213 communities in 2013 to 182 in 2014. However, the number of Korean Wave fans amounted to 1.4 million, an increase from 1.17 million in 2013.

"The growth in 2014 will serve as a stepping stone for 2015, for a year in which we can provide better contents for Korean Wave fans worldwide," said KF.

"However, it would be difficult to reach out to more fans without the adoption of advanced contents production technology, long-term investment and advanced contents distribution service," added KF.

daero@newsis.com