'K-Pop Demon Hunters' character Derpy's popularity boosts Korea's tiger craze; Sussie the Magpir helps conservation reality

A nationwide wave of tiger‑themed events have broken out, from the National Museum of Korea's sold‑out "Magpie and Tiger Badge" to a sky‑painting drone tiger over the Han River, showing how heritage motifs can turn into flashpoint pop events. Netflix's animated hit '

K-Pop Demon Hunters

' supercharged the boom via 'Derpy,' a tiger inspired by Joseon‑era magpie‑and‑tiger folk paintings known as Hojakdo, bridging K‑content spectacle with deep cultural memory in minhwa traditions. Museum merchandise has vaulted from obscurity to frenzy, with the badge jumping from roughly two sales a day to 38,000 in a month, reflecting how familiar motifs become friendly emblems when reframed through contemporary storytelling.

Symbols, not sightings

Researchers and archival sources point to a century‑long absence of wild tigers on the peninsula, with the last known wild case traced to the early 20th century, underscoring that the current fervor is cultural rather than ecological. Despite today's ubiquitous cameras on popular trails, no verified modern field signs such as tracks, scat, claw marks, or clear images have been presented, reinforcing the gulf between affection for "imaginary tigers" and reality. The prevailing story is a cultural revival rooted in art, folklore, and identity, not a rediscovery of living wildlife.

Olympic throughline

Korea's bond with the tiger spans generations, threaded through iconic mascots from Hodori of the 1988 Seoul Games to Soohorang of PyeongChang 2018, both framed as embodiments of warmth, guardianship, and national vitality. Official histories and design accounts detail how Hodori's name derived from the word for tiger and how Soohorang's white tiger form emphasized protection, illustrating sustained public affinity. That continuity links stadiums to streaming, showing how cultural tigers thrive as unifying signs even without wild counterparts.

Global character sales lift

The tiger craze has also travelled abroad through character commerce, with 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' boosting the global appeal of 'Derpy'‑linked merchandise as fandom demand spreads beyond Korea. Media and culture coverage credit the animation's breakout reach for converting traditional motifs into internationally marketable character IP, reinforcing momentum for overseas sales