Korea's pop culture continues to play a decisive role in shaping how Korea is perceived by foreigners living in the country, according to a New Year poll conducted by The Korea Times. Many respondents also say that K-culture provides a fairly authentic glimpse into everyday life here. The online survey of 258 foreign residents in Korea conducted from Dec. 18 to 24 by Hankook Research at the request of the newspaper, found that images associated with K-dramas, K-films, K-pop and other pop culture overwhelmingly dominated respondents' perceptions of the country. When asked to name up to three images that first come to mind when thinking of Korea, 67 percent of respondents chose pop culture, making it the most frequently cited response by a wide margin. Food and traditional culture followed at 43 percent, while information technology and semiconductors ranked third at 38 percent. Other responses included high competition in exams and employment at 32 percent, cosmetics at 31 percent, the division of North and South Korea at 27 percent and democracy and civic culture at 19 percent. Pop cultur