LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — On the crest of the South Korean wave, millions of Americans, young and old, are embracing the global movement of K-pop. The culture generates billions of dollars since its inception in the '90s with events around the world and in Las Vegas.
MENTAL HEALTH
K-pop is influencing not only music, but also the perception of mental health within the Asian American Pacific Islander community.
With its catchy tunes and hip hop moves, anyone can get caught in the K-wave. Surfacing out of South Korea, K-pop is flooding concert stadiums and convention floors all around the world, including Las Vegas.
Boy band BTS sold out shows at Allegiant Stadium in 2022. They had to add an extra show. Their fans swarming new K-pop retail stores popping up throughout the city.
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"Initially when it started coming out, I actually didn't like it at all, but I gave it a chance because David said, 'Hey, let's enter this competition'," says K-pop fan, Kevin Baculi.
Baculi and David Lo are Unit11, one of several K-pop dance crews in Las Vegas. These fan clubs highlighting the rich South Korean and Asian culture.
K-pop competitions elevating K-pop into mainstream.
"There will be more and more events overtime across the world. It also helps with the globalization as many of the artists are starting to be fluent in English," says Lo.
From the art, to the music, to the fashion, the K-pop movement is just growing with intensity here in the United States. And organizers hope that Las Vegas will be the hub for its expansion.
WE BRIDGE
Events like last months inaugural We Bridge Music Festival & Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center are proving to be a major draw.
"We're trying to bridge Western and Eastern Culture. All these other acts performing in Vegas all the time: Bruno, Lady Gaga, to Usher, but we don't have much K-pop or Asian, AAPI influence," says Alex Kang, CEO & Founder of We Bridge Festival.
Thousands of K-pop fans swooning over and jamming to the hottest K-pop stars. These young artists meeting and influencing their fans.
On day one of the We Bridge Festival, a moment of silence taken for Moon Bin, a 25-year-old K-pop star who died by suicide just days before the festival.
Moon Bin's death and the 2017 suicide death of K-pop star Jonghyun shining light on mental health. The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development reports that South Korea struggles with the highest rates of suicide among developed countries.
"There are a lot of people in the AAPI community who are clearly suffering from mental health-related issues, but many of them are not seeking treatment," says psychologist, Dr. Sung Cho.
NON-TRADITIONAL TREATMENTS
He says that many AAPI members seek eastern or non-traditional mental health treatments like seeing a pastor, or there might be language barriers with their primary care providers.
But Dr. Cho says it's also because there's a stigma within the culture. He says historically, psychotherapy was a treatment only offered to white individuals.
"It didn't really become acceptable until just right around World War II when all these soldiers were coming back from the war and they were all having these mental health-related issues and the VA came in and provided all this treatment, and what they found was that it was really working," says Dr. Cho.
Here in the U.S., the National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that AAPI's have the lowest rate of seeking help of any racial or ethnic group.
"Currently in the AAPI community, a lot of first-generation, a lot of immigrants don't understand what this is. So, while they may not send their children to therapy, those children eventually will start accepting therapy more," says Dr. Cho.
MUSIC THERAPY
Therapy, possibly in the form of K-pop.
K-pop idols have begun opening up about their own struggles and how they cope, leading the conversation on mental health through song.
"It helps me to calm down sometimes. It has a lot of meaning to me. When I'm having a bad day, when I listen to some, it helps me," says K-pop fan, Sonata Robinson.
