In recent years, Korean pop culture content has been drawing shamanism out of the margins.
Once cast in a negative light, shamans are now being reimagined by the entertainment industry, with recent portrayals moving beyond cliches and offering a subtler, more complex view of their world.
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Korean occult narratives inspired by shamanism differ from their Western counterparts in that shamans, as intermediaries with the divine, soothe and console restless spirits rather than confront them. The Netflix animated movie Kpop Demon Hunters highlights this distinctive aspect of Korean shamanism and has been praised for advancing the evolution of Korean-style occult storytelling.
Courtesy of Netflix
From historical and romance K-dramas to films in the action/fantasy genre, shamanism-themed content now spans a widening spectrum. The standout example is the animated musical KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix’s most-watched movie in 2025. Beyond feature films and K-dramas, the motif has even appeared in documentaries such as the series Shaman: Whispers from the Dead (2024), reflecting the growing fascination with shamans in contemporary pop culture.
In Catholicism, framed by the dichotomy of good and evil, an exorcist battles and expels demons, acting essentially as a warrior. A Korean shaman, however, follows a different path. Rather than confronting malevolent spirits — wongwi in Korean, meaning “vengeful ghosts” — the shaman listens to their grievances, helps unravel the grudges that bind them, and gently guides them toward the afterlife. In this sense, a shaman resembles a counselor more than a fighter. Unlike an exorcist’s confrontational approach, a shaman’s work as spiritual medium reflects the Korean belief that spirits only harm humans when they have a reason, one that deserves investigation and understanding.
KPop Demon Hunters, which far exceeded studio expectations, shows members of the K-pop girl group Huntr/x — descendants of shamans — wage fierce battles against evil spirits. Yet the protagonist Rumi’s approach to Jinu, leader of the demon boy band Saja Boys, is driven by a desire for redemption rather than the urge to vanquish. Instead of destroying Jinu, who became a demon after selling his soul in the depths of hunger and despair, Rumi tries to save him. Her compassion embodies the essence of a shaman’s role.
ON CENTER STAGE
The way Huntr/x connect with their fans on stage closely mirrors how shamans commune with spirits during a ritual, gut. Grounded in dance and song, these rituals resemble K-pop performances in the sense that shamans offer solace to restless souls, just as K-pop artists offer comfort and hope to their fans.
Korean productions have only recently begun to show shamans in a more positive light. For generations, shamans were believed to be destined to a life marked by hardship and social stigma. When their calling came, they suffered an inexplicable illness — sinbyeong, meaning “spirit disease” — before undergoing an initiation rite, during which they entered a trance or state of possession to communicate with the divine. Korean society at large used to dismiss such spiritual abilities, and shamans appearing in TV series and films were typically portrayed as frightening, otherworldly figures.
Today, shamans portrayed in Korean media have a brighter, more self-assured presence. The 2024 horror film Exhuma features young shaman Hwa-rim (played by Kim Go-eun), who cuts a striking figure, confidently confronting spirits in a long leather coat and Converse sneakers.
Meanwhile, in the recent K-drama The Haunted Palace (SBS, 2025), heroine Yeo-ri (Kim Ji-yeon) initially distances herself from her powers, but to lift a royal curse, she ultimately joins forces with Gangcheori, a serpent spirit inhabiting the body of her first love, Yoon Gap (Yook Sung-jae).
Once confined to minor or supporting roles, shamans now take center stage in fantasy, action, and romance stories, signaling a clear shift in how audiences perceive them. Head over Heels (tvN, 2025) clearly illustrates this transformation. Based on a webtoon of the same name, the TV series has become a global success and its script book a bestseller at major online bookstores in Korea. The heroine, Seong-a (Cho Yihyun), is a teenage shaman who takes on the role of guardian angel to protect her cursed first love, Gyeon-u (Choo Young-woo). Willing to risk her life to save him, she reflects the shaman’s role as healer, like Rumi in KPop Demon Hunters.
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The TVING original series Shaman: Whispers from the Dead follows people who have encountered spirits and the shamans who investigate them. Drawn from real cases, the documentary series stood out for exploring the spirit world from multiple angles and deepening public understanding of Korean shamanism.
Courtesy of TVING
A NEW APPROACH
The cultural shift that brought young shamans into the spotlight of romance narratives has even spawned a dating reality show called Fortune Tellers’ Love (SBS, 2024). Its format follows typical dating shows with contestants living together for a limited time in hopes of finding true love. Unlike other such shows, however, all participants are young fortune-tellers and shamans. Over the course of a week in their shared accommodation known as the Possessed House, they rely not so much on socializing to identify potential partners but their fortune-telling skills and shamanic gifts.
At the start, the participants choose their partners based solely on their birth date and time. While divine signs or messages from spirits sometimes guide them in one direction, their hearts often lead them in another. The ensuing dilemma between following their hearts or their spiritual insights created drama and excitement rarely seen in other dating shows. The introduction of this spiritual component brought a fresh twist to a familiar format. The contestants’ attractiveness and engaging personalities further enhanced the appeal of this new generation of shamans, and after a successful debut in 2024, the show returned for a second season in 2025.
GENRE EVOLUTION
The cultural motifs rooted in Korea’s traditional shamanic faith continue to evolve in fresh and imaginative ways. What, then, has turned shamans into figures of fascination? The answer lies in shifting perceptions of shamanism itself. Koreans today are less likely to regard it as shadowy paganism and more as a form of guidance that offers practical help, and shamanism is now viewed through a wider, more tolerant lens than in the past. Shamans’ rooms and fortune-telling parlors, once tucked away in dim alleyways on cities’ outskirts, have become far more accessible, as they now appear in bustling neighborhoods frequented by young people.
At the same time, the growing interest in shamanism among younger generations reflects today’s social reality in which stable jobs are scarce and dreams often feel out of reach. Uncertainty about financial security weighs on them more heavily than it did on earlier generations. Many turn to shamanic counsel for direct, intuitive guidance and find comfort in the process. This openness has, in turn, expanded shamanism’s reach across a wide range of pop culture genres.
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KOO A-JIN’s NAVER WEBTOON Mirae’s Antique Shop, which tells the story of shamans striving to save the world from absolute evil, has also been published as a book by Dulnyouk Publishing. Recognized for both its artistic merit and popular appeal, it has received numerous awards, including the President’s Award at the 2022 Korea Content Awards.
© KOO A-JIN; TOONEED ENT.; Dulnyouk Publishing Co.
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