How K-Drama Has Transcended Mere Fandom for Nigerian Women
South Korea is eight hours ahead and almost 12,000 kilometers (almost 7,500 miles) away from Nigeria; yet, an unlikely love affair between Nigerian women and Korean culture is blossoming. Almost two decades ago, long before the global hits that were Parasite and Squid Game, and the importation of K-pop into the country, women across Nigeria were buying and exchanging K-drama CDs with films across several genres.
Now, watching K-dramas has become more mainstream, in part due to Netflix Nigeria’s ever-ballooning, impressive catalog of Korean dramas and movies. In 2022, Nigeria ranked No. 5 in a Netflix list of countries that watch the most K-drama. Lagos, the commercial center of Nigeria, is littered with Korean-centric shops, Korean cuisine, and host to Korean parties and fests. We have at the heart of this cultural revolution, Nigerian women whose passions have transcended mere fandom, all beginning with a love of K-drama.
However, the Nigerian import of Korean culture has not been without its drawbacks, most notable being the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a South Korean religious pseudo cult that is known to peddle its mandate to Black people, especially targeting West Africans and Nigerians on the continent and in the diaspora under a promise of “experiencing Korean culture.” However, for the majority of Nigerians who have fallen in love with Korean culture, the experience is positive.
Esther Nneka Nnanna was introduced to K-drama in her first year in university, when she was hanging out at a friend’s place. She took some CDs home with her and that’s how it all started. “I started learning Korean because I wanted to go to Korea to meet Lee Min Ho, a popular Korean actor. You know, teenage fantasies,” Nnanna tells OkayAfrica. She joined Korean language exchange platforms, partnering with native speakers to teach them English and learn Korean from them. “In 2020, I won Best Speaker in Nigeria, organized by the Korean Institute in Abuja. Afterward, I received a lot of messages from people asking me to teach them. So I thought, why not? I have a skill. Why not sell it?” she says. Nnanna has gone on to translate for the Nigerian and Korean governments and is a brand influencer for a Korean hair product company in Nigeria.
Photo courtesy of Esther Nneka Nnanna.
Precious Ayodele, Right, and Esther Nneka Nnenna, Left, working as Korean translators on the set of My Sunshine, a Nigerian-Korean high school movie.
Abigail (who asked to be referred to by only her first name) watched K-drama for the first time in December 2020. “It was King, Eternal Monarch. I was instantly hooked,” Abigail tells OkayAfrica. “After my undergrad, I’d wanted to pursue a masters, but I couldn’t make up my mind as to where.” She decided to get a degree in Korea, and started learning the language to boost her chances at getting a scholarship. That happened in 2022, and she’s currently studying intellectual property at the Korea Development Institute in 2023. “The experience so far has been unlike anything I could have gotten from anywhere else in the world.”
Felicia Ajibade, 21 years old, also wanted to secure a Korean scholarship opportunity but that didn’t materialize, she tells OkayAfrica. “But I fell in love with the Korean language just as I’d fallen in love with their shows and stories.”
Ajibade also discovered a passion for sharing her knowledge with others, and is now a Korean language tutor while pursuing a degree in international relations. “It’s been a month since I commenced teaching Korean, and I’m currently guiding a cohort of over 20 students,” says Ajibade, who also served as an honorary reporter for the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for two years. “Tutoring has become a way for me to not only help others navigate the intricacies of a language that I’ve come to love, but also stay connected to the Korean language and culture in a meaningful way. From tutoring, I was also inspired to become a content creator.”
Ajibade has built a combined followership of over 100,000 on Instagram and Tiktok from tutoring and creating Korean-centric content. “Being able to converse fluently with native Korean speakers, and immerse myself in Korean culture has gone beyond anything I could have imagined.”
Precious Ayodele, another Korean tutor and writer, shares the same sentiment as Ajibade. “I’ve met a lot of people, collaborated with a lot of brands, from some in engineering fields to medical to beauty — so much exposure, none of which would have happened if I wasn’t a Korean speaker,” Ayodele tells OkayAfrica. Ayodele started to learn Korean because she wanted to be able to speak the language of the stories she enjoyed so much.
She has gone on to win second place in a speaking contest organized by the Korean Cultural Center in 2020, first place in 2021, and was also recently awarded a certificate from the Sejong Institute of Korea as a Korean speaker. “It’s one of my greatest achievements so far,” says Ayodele, who also owns a store, Hallyu, in Ibadan where she sells Korean snacks and products.
Photo courtesy of Precious Ayodele.
Precious Ayodele on the set of My Sunshine, an upcoming Nigerian-Korean high school movie with Nollywood actress Juliana Olayode.
“A part of the store has what I call the ‘Korean Culture Corner.’ It houses books that were donated by the Korean Culture Center in Abuja. It’s there for people who’d like to learn more about the Korean language and culture.”
Ayodele says one significant challenge for a Korean learner in Nigeria is that there aren’t many literary resources. “Apart from the Korean Institute in Abuja, you’d be hard pressed to find stores that sell Korean literature. That’s one of the reasons I decided to write a Korean textbook,” she says.
Access to Korean literature is not the only challenge that Ayodele has had to navigate in her career so far. “People can sometimes sneer and be condescending,” she says. “You hear things like, ‘You’re not Korean, why are you wasting your time speaking Korean,’ or, ‘What do you see in this language?’ K-drama culture is more mainstream now, but people still often feel that its fans are just obsessed people who have nothing better to do with their time.”
Photo courtesy of Esther Nneka Nnenna.
Esther Nneka Nnanna playing the role of a Korean teacher on the set of My Sunshine, an upcoming Nigerian-Korean high school movie.
Nnanna’s journey, however exciting and full of opportunities, has not been without its own struggles, too. “What can sometimes be challenging is getting people to take you seriously, trying to convince people that you’re worthy of the rate you’re charging.” However, she doesn’t let this deter her, and it hasn’t lessened all of the positive impact that tutoring Korean has had in her life. “It’s made me more empathetic and understanding of different cultures, of multicultural and social issues. It’s made me more polite, punctual and hard-working — Koreans are very hardworking people,” she says. “It’s also made me more sensitive to cultural etiquettes, and the uniqueness of languages.”
Nnanna says there’s “so much more” she plans to do with her love and knowledge of Korean culture and Ayodele echoes the same sentiments, saying: “There are so many opportunities out there for Nigerian women to explore, and I want even more of them for us.”