BTS is one of the most popular artists globally, as they are constantly topping the charts worldwide. BTS easily ranks number 1 in K-pop with the most YouTube views globally but surprisingly, not in South Korea.
The Joongang Daily tallied YouTube views for various Korean artists from January 7, 2022, to January 7, 2023, and ranked the artists to show which artists had achieved at least 100 million views in South Korea over the past year. According to the data, a total of 22 artists have garnered more than 100 million YouTube views in Korea.
Although BTS ranks number 1 globally at 7.97 Billion views, IU came first with the most YouTube views in South Korea. Over the past year, IU gained 449 million views in South Korea through her music-related content. During this period, IU garnered around 909 million views globally.
The next artist with the most views in South Korea is trot singer Lim Young Woong. Lim Young Woong beat BTS with the most YouTube views from South Korea, thanks to the fact that most of his fans are South Korean-based. Lim Young Woong gained 390 million views in Korea while garnering 419 million views worldwide.
Additionally, Lim Young Woong was able to come in first place in the ‘Annual Chart Top 400’ on Circle Chart. He achieved remarkable results last year, with 22 of his songs making the top 400. IU had 18 songs, and BTS had 7 songs in the top 400 charts.
BTS came in third place with a total of 352 million YouTube views from South Korea. On a global scale, they recorded an overwhelming 7.97 billion views, with the most views coming from Japan. BLACKPINK was second globally, with 7.02 billion views, with India being their biggest source of viewership. TWICE followed in third for global views at 2.76 billion, and the JYP girl group received the most views from Japan. The other artist where Korea wasn’t first in contributing the most views was Seventeen, as they received 1.23 billion views, and they received the most views from Japan.
