A foreign K-pop fan claimed she's feeding Korea's economy — a Korean gamer pulled up a chart

A Twitter fight over Korea's economy turned into a numbers battle, with an old video game entering the chat.

Translated by Klore · Published

Source & context
From a Korean communityView original post ↗
● Some K-contextMemeCulture shockHow much Korea-context this story assumes. English translations and context by Klore.
Community postEnglish translation
Anonymous

Hey Korean fans, don't act smug about wanting more when you already pay cheap. K-pop is a huge slice of Korea's economy, and overseas fans are the biggest slice of K-pop's economy. We're the ones feeding your country. We're all fans, so it should be fair. Even album sales, overseas fans buy the most...일부 한국 팬들아, 싸게 구워삶은 주제에 더 달라고 생색내지 마. 너희 한국 경제에서 kpop이 차지하는 비중이 크잖아. 그리고 kpop 경제에서 해외 팬들이 차지하는 비중이 크다. 해외 팬들이 너희 나라를 먹여 살리는 거야. 다 팬들이니까 공평하게 해야지. 앨범 살 때도 해외 팬들이 제일 많이

It's not that big, dumbass. One Korean game called MapleStory makes more revenue than all of K-pop combined. It's a tiny-ass industry.안 커 병신아 maple story라는 한국 게임 하나가 kpop 전체 보다 매출액이 더 커. 개좆만한 사업이야.

From a Korean communityView original ↗
Korean community post, image 2: The receipt: a 2024–2025 revenue chart shows two old Korean video games, Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory,…
English translation
The receipt: a 2024–2025 revenue chart shows two old Korean video games, Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory, each beating all of K-pop outright.

2024, 2025 한국문화 매출액 순위 던전앤파이터 2조 9667억 메이플스토리 1조 4032억 KPOP 1조 2377억 KMOVIE 6910억 KBO 4581억

💡 Wait, a video game beats all of K-pop combined?
Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory are decades-old Nexon MMORPGs still pulling in billions from Korean and Chinese players, easily outpacing K-pop's global concerts and album sales.vs. the US: like a 2003 MMO out-earning the entire Billboard pop industry.Klore note
💡 Why the swearing over a bar chart?
Korean X/Twitter fights escalate fast into blunt insults like '병신아' (idiot) and '개좆만한' (tiny-ass) — it's a common rhetorical style, not deep personal hatred.vs. the West: closer to a heated Reddit reply-guy brawl than a formal debate.Klore note

What Koreans said

11 top comments on the original thread, translated
  1. 635 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    Meanwhile the gaming industry still gets zero respect lol

    하지만 천대받는 게임업계

  2. 246 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    Games have always dominated, no surprise

    게임 늘 압도적이었지

  3. 243 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    K-culture's direct revenue is small but it boosts tourism, cosmetics, food industries through Korea's image

    문화산업은 작접 매출액은 적은데 한국 이미지 개선으로 관광, 화장품, 식품등 다른 산업에 도움이 된다더라

Read all 11 translated repliesShow fewer replies
  1. 233 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    It was still like this in 2025??? Damn lol

    2025에도 저 수준이었음??? 와 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

  2. 50 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    Games always made more money, but revenue isn't everything. What matters is influence on people's minds. Games don't make foreigners want to visit Korea or try Korean food.

    예전에도 돈은 게임이 많이 벌었지.. 근데 매출이 전부가 아니더라. 중요한건 사람들 생각에 얼마나 영향을 미치는가라고 생각함. 한국게임한다고 외국인들이 한국에 와보고 싶어하고 한식을 먹어보고 싶어하고 역사를 궁금해하지 않더라. 이런건 돈으로 해결할수 있는게 아니야.

  3. 47 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    K-pop apparently makes up less than 0.5% of Korea's total export market

    한국의 세계 수출 시장에서 kpop산업이 차지하는 비중이 0.5%도 안된다더라

  4. 40 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    There was a golden era for Korean games until they pulled that dumb shutdown law over 'addiction' bullshit

    압도적으로 한국 게임이 발전한 시즌이 있었는데 그놈에 중독이네 뭐네 하면서 셧다운제 하는 뻘짓 하는바람에..

  5. 30 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    KBO making 460 billion won is honestly wilder to me. Where's this data from?

    Kbo 4600억이 더 신기하네. 어디서 보는거지?

  6. 18 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    Fact check!! This data's fabricated. Real numbers: Dungeon Fighter ~1-1.3 trillion won/year, Maple ~500-700 billion won/year, total music industry revenue is 10-12 trillion plus K-pop's $1.8B in exports.

    《《날조자료맞음》》팩트체크!!! 던전앤파이터 (던파 IP) → 연간 약 1조 원 ~ 1조 3,000억 원 수준 메이플스토리 (메이플 IP) → 연간 약 5,000억 원 ~ 7,000억 원 수준 국내 음악산업 전체 매출액 (약 10조~12조 원) + K-POP 해외 수출액 (약 18억 달러 / 한화 약 2조 4천억 원)

  7. 15 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    You can't just look at raw numbers lol. Factor in K-pop improving Korea's image and bringing tourists, it's way bigger long-term

    저렇게만 보면 안될꺼 같은데ㅋㅋㅋ케팝 으로 한국이미지 좋아지고 관광객들 더 오고 이런거 생각하면 장기적으로 봐도 훨씬 클듯

  8. 14 upvotes on the original thread
    Anon· on the original thread

    Don't disrespect the whole K-pop industry over a few weirdos... national image matters way more than people think

    저런 일부 이상자들 보고 K-pop 사업 천대하는 우를 범하지 말면 좋겠다... 국가 이미지가 얼마나 중요한데

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