Richards said: “K-Pop was definitely my gateway into Korean culture, which I think it is for a lot of people.”
But she said that led her into watching Korean dramas and learning more about the country.
After visiting for two weeks in the summer she said she enjoyed the atmosphere so much she “decided to go back and study for a bit”.
At the time, because of the lack of English subtitles on Korean exports, she said: “You had to wait for really dedicated fans who could speak Korean to translate voluntarily and put subtitles out for you, and sometimes you had to wait weeks.”
“I thought if I go and learn Korean I won’t have to wait,” she reasoned.
Richards enrolled in a Korean language school at a Korean University and said it was surprisingly easy to learn.
“Korean is known as the most scientific language on the planet and the actual alphabet you can learn in four hours,” she said.