Amid the outbreak of COVID-19, South Korea is still actively promoting its culture and tourist destinations to global audiences. Through the initiative of Imagine Korea Virtual Reality, the country invites foreign people to view Korean sightseeing places and tourist spots. Based on Imagine Korea as the case study material, our study attempted to identify the perceptions, feelings, and expectations of Indonesian consumers of Hallyu through virtual tourism offered by South Korea. The study employed in-depth interviews with 15 respondents who often consume Korean pop culture. The result revealed that most respondents had never experienced or had been interested in any virtual tours offered during the pandemic. Nevertheless, the experiments changed their perceptions of the entertainment virtual tours can provide throughout the COVID-19 crisis. While most respondents agreed that virtual tours sparked their interest in visiting Seoul after the pandemic ended, they mainly stated that virtual tours could never replace traditional travel. Thus, instead of serving as an alternative form of tourism during COVID-19 and afterwards, the study indicated the potential of virtual tours to be a primary destination marketing tool, one that can help visitors better design their itinerary routes and learn about local attractions.

Depressive symptoms in people during the outbreak of Covid-19 have been reported across the globe. In the period where people are forced to withdraw from the crowd and isolate themselves, coping with mental health is indeed very challenging. Previous studies showed how fandom or the state of being a fan of someone or something could create healthy support systems and a feeling of belonging. Focusing on Indonesia's case, this paper aims to understand better why people consume K-wave content during the pandemic and whether consuming it could bring comfort in coronavirus's widespread. The first survey was carried out online in August 2020 and collected 254 responses through random sampling. Meanwhile, the second survey was conducted in early January 2021 and retrieved 100 answers. This study's findings provide pieces of evidence on the rise in consumption of K-wave content in Indonesia during the pandemic. K-wave content can be considered as a form of entertainment that saves people in the face of a pandemic. From the questionnaire results, respondents verified that K-wave content consumption is an option to fill their free time, keep a social and emotional connection, and overcome several mental health syndromes they experience during the COVID-19 crisis.

Pada tahun 2018, Grup Bank Dunia mengeluarkan sebuah indeks yakni Indeks Modal Manusia (IMM) yang akan mengukur kontribusi kesehatan dan pendidikan untuk produktivitas generasi pekerja berikutya. Indeks ini diharapkan mampu untuk dapat mempercepat investasi yang lebih baik dan lebih banyak pada modal manusia serta dapat meningkatkan pertumbuhan ekonomi. Badan Pusat Statistik selaku(BPS) penyelenggara statistik dasar hingga saat ini belum menghitung IMM. Padahal indeks ini dapat dijadikan acuan atau dasar bagi pemerintah dalam membuat kebijakan untuk meningkatkan pertumbuhan ekonomi. Indonesia  mengalami pertumbuhan ekonomi yang stagnansi yakni 4%-5%  dalam kurun waktu 2015-2018. Dalam teori pertumbuhan ekonomi neoklasik terdapat 3 faktor dalam pertumbuhan ekonomi yakni akumulasi modal, pertumbuhan penduduk yang diikuti dengan kualitasnya dan perkembangan teknologi. Penelitian ini bertujuan menghitung nilai Indeks Modal Manusia Indonesia dan pengaruhnya bersama PMTB serta didukung oleh pengaruh teknologi dari nilai Indeks Pembangunan Teknologi Informasi dan Komunikasi terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi. Hasilnya pada tahun 2015 hingga 2018 terjadi penurunan nilai Indeks Modal Manusia Indonesia. Sementara,  dari model regresi panel diperoleh hasil bahwa pada tingkat signifikansi 5 persen PMTB dan IP-TIK  berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap Pertumbuhan Ekonomi. Sedangkan IMM tidak dapat menunjukkan pengaruh yang positif dan signifikan terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi. Dari hasil tersebut, diharapkan pemerintah dapat meningkatkan PMTB dan dukungan akan kemajuan teknologi guna mendorong perekonomian.