From Imaginative Geographies to Everyday Negotiations: K-Culture and African Students’ Adaptation in Korea

This research examines how Korean popular culture (K-culture) shapes African international students' adaptation in South Korea.Based on thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 12 African students at Jeonbuk National University, it traces the pathway from pre-arrival "imaginative geographies" formed through K-dramas, K-pop, and social media to post-arrival negotiations of language, study, and social belonging.Findings show that K-culture operates as a dual-use resource: it motivates education migration and supports early interaction and informal Korean learning through shared media references and pragmatics, yet it can also generate unrealistic expectations and function as a coping retreat that delays engagement when students experience stress or exclusion.Adaptation was further constrained by a persistent double-minority position, mutual language anxiety in cross-cultural encounters, and institutional separations that limit sustained contact (e.g., dormitory and lab divides).By specifying the mechanisms through which mediated cultural affinity intersects with local social structures, the study advances acculturation research and qualifies soft-power accounts by showing where cultural attraction meets the practical boundaries of inclusion.