K-pop in the context of "Youth subculture"

The 1990s (often referred and shortened to as "the '90s" or "the Nineties") was the decade that began on 1 January 1990, and ended on 31 December 1999. Known as the "post-Cold War decade", the 1990s were culturally imagined as the period from the Revolutions of 1989 until the September 11 attacks in 2001. The dissolution of the Soviet Union marked the end of Russia's status as a superpower, the end of a multipolar world, and the rise of anti-Western sentiment. China was still recovering from a politically and economically turbulent period. This allowed the US to emerge as the world's sole superpower, creating relative peace and prosperity for many western countries. During this decade, the world population grew from 5.3 to 6.1 billion.

The decade saw greater attention to multiculturalism and advance of alternative media. Public education about safe sex curbed HIV in developed countries. Generation X bonded over musical tastes. Humor in television and film was marked by ironic self-references mixed with popular culture references. Alternative music movements like grunge, reggaeton, Eurodance, K-pop, and hip-hop, became popular, aided by the rise in satellite and cable television, and the internet. New music genres such as drum and bass, post-rock, happy hardcore, denpa, and trance emerged. Video game popularity exploded due to the development of CD-ROM supported 3D computer graphics on platforms such as Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and PCs.

A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guitarists (a lead guitarist and a rhythm guitarist, with one of them singing lead vocals), a bassist, and a drummer (e.g. the Beatles and KISS). Another common formation is a vocalist who does not play an instrument, electric guitarist, bass guitarist, and a drummer (e.g. the Who, the Monkees, Led Zeppelin and U2). Sometimes, in addition to electric guitars, electric bass, and drums, also a keyboardist (especially a pianist) plays.

Additionally, rock and pop bands can also include boy bands or girl bands, which many times have bands where the members do not play any instruments but sing and dance instead. Such is the case of Menudo, the Spice Girls and K-pop groups, for example.

The Korean Wave, or hallyu (Korean: 한류; listen), refers to the rapid global rise in South Korean popular culture since the 1990s. It is led by the spread of K-pop, K-dramas, and films, with key successes including K-Pop groups BTS and Blackpink, the Oscar-winning film Parasite (2019), the Netflix television series Squid Game. The Korean Wave has been recognized as a form of soft power and a significant economic asset for South Korea, generating revenue through cultural exports and tourism.

Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the end of military censorship over the South Korean entertainment industry, the country emerged as a major exporter of popular culture. The growth of satellite media in the late 1990s helped spread K-dramas and Korean cinema across East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia. Chinese journalists coined the term "Korean Wave" (Chinese: 韩流; pinyin: hánliú) in 1999 to describe the growing popularity of South Korean cultural products.. During the 2000s, hallyu expanded into Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. By 2008, South Korea's cultural exports surpassed its cultural imports for the first time. The rise of social media and global internet platforms helped the Korean entertainment industry reach overseas audiences and gain support from the South Korean government.

A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. South Korean boy bands usually also have designated rappers. Most boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on stage. They are similar in concept to their counterparts known as girl groups.

Some boy bands are formed on their own, but most are created by talent managers or record producers who hold auditions. The popularity of boy bands has peaked three times: first in the 1960s to '70s, with e.g. the Jackson 5, the Bay City Rollers, and the Osmonds; the second time during the late 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s, when acts such as New Kids on the Block, Take That, Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, NSYNC, Five, Westlife and Blue dominated global pop charts; and the latest time in the 2010s up to the present, with the emergence of groups such as Big Time Rush, the Wanted, One Direction, and K-pop acts such as BTS and Seventeen.