By Ha Man-joo, India correspondent, AsiaToday - The Korean Pop Culture, popularly known as "Korean Wave" has finally hit India. India has been considered as 'wasteland of Korean Wave' so far. Back in April, a public broadcasting program explored the possibilities for Korean Wave in India with idol singers taking part as reporters, and came to a conclusion that there is a bare chance for Korean Wave to succeed in India.

However, the 'K-Pop Contest 2015' site showed that the Korean Wave is steadily growing in India. On July 24, nearly 3,000 fans gathered for the Northeast round of the 'K-Pop Contest 2015', which was held at the Mizoram University multipurpose hall in Aizawl city in Mizoram. They arrived to the venue several hours before the concert, and more than 1,000 fans who failed to enter the venue had to watch the concert through the project screen.

Singer Jung Hye-min, who held the special performance at the concert, said, "I was surprised to see so many hallyu fans in India. In particular, I was very impressed to see the fans' explosive reaction."

In fact, the Korean Wave has settled down as the mainstream popular culture in Mizoram state of India. Korean movies and television dramas, dubbed in Mizo, air every day and are the most watched programs in the state these days. Young people listen to K-pop music through internet or CDs, wear Korean style makeup and fashion while enjoying K-pop music and dance. The typical pattern of K-Wave, which is first driven by the spread of K-dramas and later proliferated by K-Pop, can be seen in this region.

On July 24, Pu Lalthanhawla, the present Chief Minister of Mizoram, invited Director of Korean Culture Centre India Kim Kum-Pyoung, singer Jung Hye-min, and other Koreans to his official residence and had a meeting for more than a hour.

Chief Minister Lalthanhawla said, "My family also enjoy Korean dramas and K-Pop. We hope this event can strengthen cultural ties between Korea and Mizoram."

Co-hosted by Mizoram state and Korean Culture Centre India, K-Pop Contest was held after Chief Minister Lalthanhawla invited Korean Ambassador to India Lee Joon-gyu in last May and proposed the relationship development between Korea and Mizoram.

"It was found that 600,000 people in India have visited a Facebook account created for hallyu fans in India. Their offline meetings are active," said Kim Kum-Pyoung, Director of Korean Cultural Centre India.

Hallyu fans in India are estimated to exceed 100 million taking into consideration that there is a variety of platforms such as YouTube to experience the Korean Wave.