Soft power: – AFP
A quick history is a good place to start. Since spread of public education in the 19th century, most foreign language learning has taken place in school, usually in required classes. The requirement comes from policy decisions that reflect the social context of the times. Student needs and motivation have figured little into the policy decisions and have instead been reserved for discussions on teaching methods and materials.
The lack of a strong presence in primary and secondary education makes it difficult for Korean to continue to grow in higher education because many learners want to continue studying the language they learned in high school. Interest in K-pop may encourage some students to take Korean in university, but future growth may be limited by the pool of available students.