The airport is a prime people-watching spot, although sometimes not to witness the best of humanity. At its worst, it's full of the tired, huddled masses yearning to breathe free. At its best, it's just a bunch of bored travelers in yoga pants thumbing through magazines and chowing down on Twizzlers.

Except when a K-pop star is jet-setting off somewhere. Suddenly, fans are swarming, and the paparazzi is clicking. They all want to know one thing - what's the star wearing?

Korea isn't the only place where paparazzi stake out airports; many tabloids worldwide are full of comments on who wore what to fly.  But Korea seems to have taken a special interest in what its K-Pop stars wear when they hop on a plane. Type in "Kpop airport fashion" to Twitter or Pinterest and thousands of pics of stars in stretchy skinny jeans carrying giant totes and their passport will pop up. The topic has its own blogs and it's common to find rankings of who tops the airport fashion game. KpopStarz has an entire tag dedicated to airport fashion.  

There's a lot of pressure on K-Pop stars to look good wherever they go. So it's no surprise that they're expected to look red carpet-ready at the place where the rest of us usually claim victory if we've dusted off our nicest spandex. But Korea's attention to airport fashion goes deeper than the expectation that its stars look fashionable 24/7. It also stems from the Korean tradition of projecting pride and meaning through a personal image, and the importance of pop culture in Korea's growing presence on the world stage.

Historically, Korean clothing has always held significance. Beautiful, vibrant clothing was made with a great attention to detail, and was designed to tell a story about the wearer. For instance, it was possible to learn details such as a person's home region or marital status just by the colors, designs, or ribbons that they wore.

Later, the production and exportation of textiles played a significant role in helping the country rebuild after the war. As the textile industry grew, Koreans began to be world influencers in fashion and pop culture. Its Asian neighbors, as well as people from other countries, began to pay more attention to what Korea had to say, both culturally and politically. In what is sometimes referred to as the Korean Wave, the rest of the world has stopped and listened to what Korea has to say since the late 90s.

K-pop stars helped spread that influence, and in many ways they're still the face of Korea to people worldwide who don't know much else about the country. Korea is a homogenous country that, besides business travelers, foreign teachers, and U.S. military personnel, doesn't get a lot of wayward travelers. It isn't often featured in glossy travel magazines. Koreans themselves travel abroad far less frequently than people from other developed countries.

Hence, the K-Pop ambassadors. These stars are jet-setting across the globe; teaching fans worldwide as much about Korea as any history book could. They're not just putting on a fresh face and outfit for the camera; they're putting it on for the world.

Interest in K-Pop airport fashion isn't always for such global purposes, though. Many K-Pop fans click on pictures of their favorite stars at the airport because they want to see what they wear when they're not performing. K-Pop costuming is legendary. It's bold, attention-grabbing, and daring. On stage, it has no equal. On a walk down the street to get coffee, it's too much.

Airport fashion (full of giant totes, flowing blouses, sunglasses, boyfriend jeans, oversized jackets, and chic sweatshirts that a mainstream consumer can afford to wear) gives K-Pop fans a way to emulate their favorite stars on an every day level. And, of course, a way for retailers to eye new trends and stock their shelves with the clothes that fans have suddenly decided they need.

It's not a bad style to emulate. K-Pop stars (with the help of professionals and designer clothes, of course) almost always manage to look casually chic as they stroll through the airport. If more travelers tried out those styles, airport watching might get a lot more fun.