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David D. Lee

When Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong took the stage at an Nvidia event in Seoul last month, his wry observation – “Why are there so many iPhones here?” – was met with knowing laughter from the assembled crowd.
For a country that prides itself on the global success of home-grown brands like Samsung, South Korea is seeing an increasing number of its young people opt for American alternatives.
A July poll by Gallup Korea found more than 60 per cent of respondents in their twenties used an iPhone, while 86 per cent of those in their fifties and sixties reported having a Samsung Galaxy.
“I’ve rarely seen anyone my age use a Samsung phone,” said Choi Jin, a 26-year-old teacher living near Seoul. “So, when they see my Samsung Galaxy, everyone asks why I don’t use an iPhone.”

Indeed, during a recent visit by This Week in Asia to Seoul’s popular youth district of Hongdae, staff at Apple’s retail store were busy attending to consumers while the nearby Samsung showroom appeared half empty.
America’s cultural footprint was equally visible on the street, from Yale sweatshirts and Major League Baseball caps to tote bags emblazoned with National Geographic or CNN.
Yoo Seung-chul, a professor at Ewha Womans University, said such buying decisions ultimately boiled down to personal tastes shaped by social media as much as patriotic loyalty.
“When patriotic purchasing decisions were dominant in the past, officers and executives in South Korean companies would drive Hyundai or Kia cars to the office,” Yoo said.
“But, today, you will see many BMWs parked in office car parks.”

American influence
These trends also speak to the deep-rooted ties that continue to bind South Korea to the United States, even as political and economic tensions periodically test the strength of their alliance.
Forged during the Korean war, Seoul’s security pact with Washington has, for decades, shaped everything from diplomatic outlook to popular culture. Generations grew up on a diet of Hollywood blockbusters, American pop music and nightly news bulletins featuring US presidents.
“My father would go to the US on business trips ever since I was young,” Choi said. “And you hear news about America and its president almost every time you watch the news.”
For many families, fluency in English equals opportunity, leading parents to invest heavily in private tutors, hoping to send their children to universities in the US.

Migration for study and business has been the result. According to the US Census Bureau, some 2 million South Koreans now live in the US – a diaspora that continues to shape perceptions and aspirations back home.
“I have many friends who have lived in the US and the way they think is quite different from the typical Korean person,” Choi said.
Those seen as unduly enamoured with the US are often labelled with the epithet sadaejuui, a term dating to the Joseon dynasty that was once used to describe subservience to China. Today, it is deployed as a critique of perceived cultural deference towards America.
Such language reflects just how deeply intertwined the US-South Korean relationship has become, according to Cha Doo-hyun, a senior researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies think tank in Seoul.

“As the US has played a crucial role in South Korea’s development after our independence from Japanese colonialism, American products have naturally become ingrained in our society,” he told This Week in Asia.
“Most South Koreans also have a positive outlook towards the US as the country is perceived to be vital to the survival and well-being of our country.”
Popular cultural exchanges, such as the Netflix hit K-pop Demon Hunters and the rising global profile of K-dramas, reveal other shared interests that have helped to create new bonds of kinship, according to Cha.
“These connections have allowed times of disputes and emergencies to pass by without too much damage in relations,” he said.
“We’ve had our bumps within the 70 years of intercountry relations, but our society has learned how to look past differences. We have a unique and unspoken wall of protection to our relationship with the US.”
On a pedestal
Recent frictions have tested the resilience of these ties, however. Washington’s imposition of tariffs on South Korean steel, electronics and cars has rattled Korean exporters, and the raids in September by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Hyundai’s electric vehicle plant in Georgia came as a further shock.
Yet there is little sign of a consumer backlash: iPhones, if anything, have become even more aspirational.
“iPhones are emphasised for being designed in California,” Yoo said. “South Korean youth now buy iPhones for the sense of ‘freedom’ and specific style that is associated with California.”

That is not the case for Choi and her Samsung handset, however. Though still only in her twenties, she said her perceptions of the US had evolved with age.
“When I was younger, I always thought that America was on this high pedestal,” she said, adding that she had since realised that the US and South Korea were quite similar economically.
“Many of my friends who have visited America even say that our country is better and safer to live in. It has really transformed the way I think.”


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A recent poll found most South Koreans in their twenties used an iPhone. The US is still seen as aspirational, despite recent frictions


A recent poll found most South Koreans in their twenties used an iPhone. The US is still seen as aspirational, despite recent frictions.


Apple of their eye: why South Korea’s Gen Z want American brands

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A recent poll found most South Koreans in their twenties used an iPhone. The US is still seen as aspirational, despite recent frictions

A recent poll found most South Koreans in their twenties used an iPhone. The US is still seen as aspirational, despite recent frictions