When a Southeast Asian reader looks up a K-pop act, do they open the member or the group?
We took the 60 most-read Korean soloists, read who they belong to, and put each one beside their group on the four Southeast Asian Wikipedias. 23 pairs can be compared. In 13 of them the group is read more in every country. In 6 the member is. The remaining 4 disagree from one country to the next.
| Member | Group | Indonesia | Vietnam | Thailand | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Lee | SuperM | 48.38 / 7.96 | 6.89 / 3.17 | 31.43 / 3.2 | — |
| Jay Park | 2PM | 21.02 / 13.62 | 24.43 / 12.99 | 22.68 / 22.22 | 5.99 / 4.74 |
| Lee Hye-ri | Girl's Day | 17.99 / 4.23 | 27.66 / 6.02 | 15.51 / 4.77 | 3.58 / 1.56 |
| Gong Myung | 5urprise | 31.65 / 3.61 | 9.49 / 2.38 | 12.95 / 2.62 | — |
| Kai | SuperM | 10.68 / 7.96 | 10.14 / 3.17 | 31.4 / 3.2 | — |
| Nana | A.S. Red & Blue | 12.2 / 0.13 | 23.45 / 0.15 | — | — |
Each cell is member / group, in reads per million reads of that Wikipedia. A dash means one of the two has no article on that edition, so we do not compare there rather than counting a missing article as zero.
| Member | Group | Indonesia | Vietnam | Thailand | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V | BTS | 79.18 / 83.29 | 85.14 / 133.45 | 53.35 / 130.09 | 15.62 / 33.93 |
| Jungkook | BTS | 22.55 / 83.29 | 51.22 / 133.45 | 57.39 / 130.09 | 8.51 / 33.93 |
| D.O. | EXO | 30.15 / 53.91 | 26.96 / 71.29 | 20.46 / 77.27 | 3.51 / 11.68 |
| Kim Seok-jin | BTS | 17.64 / 83.29 | 20.3 / 133.45 | 31.5 / 130.09 | 4.98 / 33.93 |
| Suga | BTS | 16.68 / 83.29 | 21.48 / 133.45 | 29.62 / 130.09 | 4.2 / 33.93 |
| RM | BTS | 13.3 / 83.29 | 16.22 / 133.45 | 26.71 / 130.09 | 3.21 / 33.93 |
| J-Hope | BTS | 11.88 / 83.29 | 18.97 / 133.45 | 24.26 / 130.09 | 3.64 / 33.93 |
| Jimin | BTS | 10.76 / 83.29 | 12.44 / 133.45 | 27.74 / 130.09 | 4.58 / 33.93 |
| Kai | EXO | 10.68 / 53.91 | 10.14 / 71.29 | 31.4 / 77.27 | 2.07 / 11.68 |
| Seungri | BigBang | 9.21 / 24.78 | 24.26 / 38.7 | 15.58 / 38.97 | 4.55 / 10.25 |
| Na Jaemin | NCT Dream | 24.77 / 36.63 | 4.77 / 12.76 | 19.62 / 38.35 | 2.74 / 2.84 |
| Oh Se-hun | EXO | 14.64 / 53.91 | 18.19 / 71.29 | 15.8 / 77.27 | 1.68 / 11.68 |
| Taeyang | BigBang | 11.23 / 24.78 | 19.61 / 38.7 | 13.09 / 38.97 | 3.73 / 10.25 |
These are the interesting ones. The same member sits above their group in one country and below it in another, which is a fact about the reader rather than about the act.
| Member | Group | Member higher in | Indonesia | Vietnam | Thailand | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T.O.P | BigBang | 1 of 4 | 24.31 / 24.78 | 76.81 / 38.7 | 15.79 / 38.97 | 6.36 / 10.25 |
| Mark Lee | NCT Dream | 1 of 3 | 48.38 / 36.63 | 6.89 / 12.76 | 31.43 / 38.35 | — |
| Lee Jun-ho | 2PM | 2 of 4 | 28.37 / 13.62 | 10.62 / 12.99 | 43.05 / 22.22 | 3.03 / 4.74 |
| Seunghan | Riize | 1 of 2 | 61.77 / 19.11 | — | 13.94 / 26.99 | — |
T.O.P sits above BigBang only on the Vietnamese Wikipedia, at 76.81 against 38.70, and below it on the other three.
This is not a contest. A member's article and their group's article answer different questions for a reader, and one being opened more is not evidence that it is better known.
Not a contest. We put the member and the group side by side; we do not say one beat the other.
Not every soloist. Only the most-read ones had their membership read.
Not popularity. This counts encyclopaedia article opens.
A soloist whose membership we could not read is not counted as having no group. Not measured and no group are different things. Of the 60 soloists we looked at, 43 belong to a group, 17 belong to none, and 0 could not be read.