In the past five years, enrollment in Japanese classes has increased nearly 250%, from 35 students in spring 2016 to 122 students in spring 2021. Beginning Korean classes started in fall 2021 and had 36 students enrolled in spring 2021. Camacho-Guardado said the popularity of South Korean K-pop music has had a lot to do with the interest in the Korean language. “It’s a very popular genre.”Paola Daniela Petrides, an international political economy junior, takes both Spanish and Korean classes. “When we study a foreign language, we discover different ways of seeing and being in the world.