For a long time, if you were a fan of Korean pop music — also known as K-pop — you had to go online to engage with other fans from around the world. Finding fellow K-pop fans in Kansas was difficult.
Nowadays, K-pop has pierced the mainstream veil and can be found on the radio, Tik Tok and even on Sunday night HBO dramas.
“I didn't get into it because, ‘Oh, they look great,’” said 17-year-old Shiloh Smith. “It's not about the visuals or, like, the dancing … that's just a plus for me. It's all about the music. I'm into it for the music, and I think it's great.”
Smith is from Lawrence, and she recently started selling K-pop merchandise with her mother, Amanda Smith, under the name Zero to K-Infinity. They traveled to Wichita last month to sell photo cards and mystery bags at an event celebrating the K-pop band Stray Kids. The gathering was their first outing as vendors.
“She wanted to be able to bring that kind of culture here for people to make it more accessible … and also provide an experience … in person, rather than just having to always shop online and bring the community closer together,” Amanda Smith said.
The Stray Kids event was organized by the K-pop store in Wichita, Kpop Stop and Anime. There were a number of attendees who drove in from out of town in hopes of meeting people with mutual interests.
“There's no K-pop stuff in Missouri. … Even in Kansas City … there's a little bit, but, like, we don't have a K-pop store or anything … so I mostly have to come here,” said 26-year-old Mikaylin Turner.
The origins of K-Pop and idol culture can be traced back to the early 1990s. However, it exploded in the 2010s when boy band BTS became the most popular group on the planet. Its rise helped turn K-pop into the $10 billion industry it is today.
For many fans, the messaging of the music is one of the big draws.
“It … shows me that I can be myself, especially because that was a huge thing with BTS and a lot of groups, too, is … love yourself and just be who you are,” said Shiloh Smith, the vendor from Lawrence.
At the event in Wichita, fans could find vendors selling T-shirts adorned with the faces of pop idols, sip on boba tea, eat taiyaki pastries or take pictures in front of a giant backdrop plastered with members of Stray Kids. Participants could also enter a raffle to win tickets to a concert in Dallas or take part in a dance contest.
“We're hoping to win those tickets, but it's just we know some of the vendors here, and we like to support the small businesses, and so that's another reason why we like to come,” said 53-year-old Lori Herpich.
As 45-year-old teacher Lynne Ahlgren noted, the crowd at the event and the members of the community come from all walks of life.
“It's pretty diverse,” Ahlgren said. “… I'm not usually the oldest person … in the room, which at first I thought I would be. But it's very cool because you see parents and their children and siblings, and I've made friends through the K-pop community here.”
And like many of the other mothers and daughters at the event, K-pop is something Shiloh Smith said she and her mother connect over. Their goal with Zero to K-Infinity is to be able to source their merch directly from South Korea, open up a brick-and-mortar shop and attend more events together.
“It helps with bonding a lot because me and my mom used to not be as close,” Shiloh Smith said. “But I feel like it's gotten us very close because all of a sudden she's the person I want to take to the next … Stray Kids concert or whatever.”
