South Korea Celebrates K-pop Demon Hunters with Unique Cultural Events

Sat Sep 13 2025 12:24:33 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The release of Netflix's K-pop Demon Hunters has ignited a cultural phenomenon in South Korea, with unique events like Buddhist rituals for animated idols and a surge in museum visitors.

South Korea is abuzz with excitement over the animated film K-pop Demon Hunters, which features musical demon hunters and has become Netflix's most-watched movie. Celebrations include a viral Buddhist ceremony for fictional idols and a dramatic increase in visitors at the National Museum of Korea. Fans are expressing a strong desire for cinema screenings, with plans for limited shows at the Busan International Film Festival. The film's success reflects a growing global fascination with Korean culture and music.

When a South Korean monk performed a Buddhist ritual for a wildly popular K-pop boy band, it was the most unusual ceremony he had ever held.

His mission: to guide the souls of the band to peace and rebirth.

The band were long gone - or rather, they had never been alive, except in the fictional world of the animated Netflix hit K-pop Demon Hunters. Still, the YouTube video went viral.

Although cast as villains, the Saja Boys have won a devoted following for their gorgeous looks and swagger. Even their name - saja - translates to angel of death among other things.

The live-streamed service, a genuine Buddhist rite known as Chondojae usually performed by monks for grieving families, lasted more than two hours and drew more than 4,000 viewers - more people than he had ever seen for a ceremony, even offline, says the monk, a virtual YouTuber who prefers to remain anonymous.

This was no joke. The BBC confirmed that he is a registered monk. But he could not guarantee salvation for the Saja Boys, not even for the lead, Jinu.

As K-pop Demon Hunters tops every chart - Netflix says it has become its most watched movie ever - Koreans are revelling in the moment. Made and voiced by Korean-Americans, and produced by US studios Sony and Netflix, the film's inspiration is deeply Korean.

It's a tale about mythical demon hunters whose power comes from their music - in this case, that's a sassy K-pop girl band called Huntrix. And of course, the soundtrack that fans across the world are now singing along to every day is rooted in South Korea's biggest export: K-pop.

All of this has sparked a frenzy in South Korea, like in so many other places, a fascination with the Korean culture the movie centers, and even a little bit of FOMO - because unlike in the US and Canada, there are no plans yet to release the movie in cinemas here.