Korean cultural heavyweights Bang Si-hyuk and Hwang Dong-hyuk were among three people from the country included in this year's "Bloomberg 50" on Wednesday.
It is the highest number of Koreans ever included in the list, which honors "50 people in business, entertainment, finance, politics, and technology and science, whose 2021 accomplishments were particularly noteworthy."
The three were Bang, the impresario behind Hybe, which manages boy band Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, Hwang, the director and writer of Netflix's mega-hit series "Squid Game," and Lee Hoe-sung, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Bloomberg said Bang had managed to bring K-pop to the center of the U.S. music business by engineering a US$1-billion deal in April to combine Ithaca Holdings with his Korean company.
Hwang was recognized as "the brain behind the 'Squid Game,'" which achieved a level of worldwide success unprecented for a Korean series.
Lee was recognized for his contribution to the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report, which was issued in August.
Last year, Jeong Eun-kyeong, the chief of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, and Bong Joon-ho, director of the multi-Oscar-winning film "Parasite," made the list.
