[Sportschosun reporter Jeong Bit] Lee Ji, a practicing dentist and holder of a doctorate in dentistry from Seoul National University, is seeing her new song "Our Oppa" spread into a TikTok dance challenge, drawing participation from users overseas as well as in Korea.
Released last month, "Our Oppa" drew attention with a music video featuring actor Jo Jae-yoon and singer Jo Jung-min. The video surpassed 210,000 views within six days of release and also ranked No. 33 on YouTube Music's daily popular music video chart, an unusual achievement for a rookie trot singer.
Recently, the "Our Oppa" dance challenge has been spreading beyond Korea and gaining strong attention on TikTok. Its catchy chorus and easy-to-follow point choreography appear to have spread quickly through short-form platforms, encouraging users to join in on their own.
Dance challenges for trot singers usually remain in the range of dozens to hundreds of videos. By contrast, "Our Oppa" has surpassed 1,600 dance cover videos on TikTok in about three weeks since release. What stands out is that the trend has moved beyond a promotional challenge and into a flow of users creating and reproducing content voluntarily.
In addition, while many existing trot challenges tend to spread mainly among singers or fellow entertainers, "Our Oppa" is gaining momentum as a wide range of dance cover creators, including a creator from Hanlim Multi Art School, have joined in voluntarily.
It is especially notable that a trot song is being naturally consumed within short-form culture led by younger generations.
Global reactions are also continuing. Recently on TikTok, videos by Southeast Asian users singing along to "Oppa Oppaya" and dancing to the chorus have been appearing one after another. Many cover videos by users wearing hijabs have also been posted, leading to analysis that "Our Oppa" is drawing attention not only in Korea but also across Southeast Asia.
Following Daesung of Big Bang's recent "Coachella" stage, Korean trot is showing new possibilities by riding the global expansion of short-form platforms and K-content. Industry watchers are now paying attention to whether "Our Oppa" can become another new example of K-Trot in the global market beyond Southeast Asia.
With its unusual background as a dentist, the buzz around the music video despite Lee Ji being a newcomer, a TikTok challenge driven by Generation MZ, and the growing response from Southeast Asia all coming together, attention is focused on whether "Our Oppa" can establish itself as a new hit case for K-Trot.
Jeong Bit, rightlight@sportschosun.com
