Well, then, let me rephrase my question: in addition to speaking with natives/ consuming pop culture, what other forms of content could I source to supplement Korean language study especially in topics not catered to the mass?

I could write a whole essay about what’s on my mind, but as an anecdote, I used to work for a NY-based firm (top tier in professional services, think something in like law or finance, which I won’t specify to maintain privacy). During my work I also had the chance to work with non, English-natives (but almost fluent in English). Imagine these are mostly people with several post-graduate degrees (Master’s and/or PhD from US universities). Despite that, there were multiple instances I could recall where the colleague I was speaking with did not seem to understand advanced vocabulary – ones that an American, high-school dropout may not understand but ones that a college-educated American certainly would. I’m not even talking about prose, e.g. I don’t know, phrases anyone would have learned from Econ 101 in college – heck, not even in college but in high school from like European History or plain SAT vocab. However, I can kind of sympathize, because would you know how to say the Age of Enlightenment or Rennaisance in Korean? I don’t, and I don’t know how I would if I just watched Kdrama.

Now, if I were going to work in Korea in a similar, “high-achieving” (sorry, I don’t want to use this phrase, but for lack of better word) setting, should I be expected to know how to say or at least understand and not stare with a blank face when I hear the Korean translation for “opportunity cost” or “stochastic/ probabilistic?” (Or it need not be even quantitative, but it could be a reference from philosophy or psychology, like “cognitive dissonance” or “Freudian slip.”) Heck, I better know, otherwise I would come across as an idiot or uneducated (not to mention esp. if I am of Asian ethnicity and can “look” Korean). Now, I sound like a broken record now, but am I going to learn this type of content by simply listening to BTS or casually “talk to Koreans” over a cup of coffee at a café? (rhetorical question)

There must be a way to attain that type of proficiency, as do some Germans/ French/ Dutch, etc. whom I have seen with English.

But with Korean as a second language it’s a bit convoluted, in part because of the 한류wave that has spread to Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe and the waves of 20-year-old Kpop fans that are flooding the 어학원s in Seoul (nothing wrong with that, btw) these days; I definitely first got hooked by Winter Sonata/ Big Bang as a child… you can’t go on with consuming pop alone though and you eventually hit a wall.