Top idol groups Big Bang, Girls’ Generation and Super Junior were named the most well-known group among foreign students.

Congressman Yoo Ki Hong of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism conducted a joint polling survey with the Sejong School Foundation to find out which K-pop idol group is the most well-known among foreign students.

In the revealed survey results, which were taken by 604 foreign students at the King Sejong Institute, Big Bang ranked #1 with 18.3% of the total votes, followed by Girls’ Generation (15.1%), Super Junior (13.9%), EXO (11.1%), TVXQ (8.9%). The list also included PSY (8.3%), 2NE1 (7.6%), CNBLUE (6.8%), 2PM (6.4%) and Shinhwa (5.8%).

According to the survey, 66.1% of the foreign students first learned about Korean culture from pop and entertainment (K-POP, movies, dramas), while 12.0% learned through news coverage of politics, economy, and diplomacy.