Background Korean popular culture (K-pop) has become increasingly popular worldwide and the convergence of K-pop and virtual reality (VR) has contributed to the popularity of metaverse technologies. Previous studies on K-pop and VR were largely conducted in the fields of cognitive psychology and qualitative research. Recently, the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalogram (EEG), and eye-trackers have gained attention. Methods In this study, EEG analysis was used to