We have these useless discussion because a lot of people see the growth of Kpop just in America, almost all stats and numbers that are provided in such discussions are American-centric.
When people talk about the growth of Kpop they mostly refer to the US market, yet the growth over there isn’t even comparable to growth Kpop had in Asia. The vast majority of Kpop Acts still make their money there (album sales, streaming, touring etc)
Especially SEA is the third biggest market for Kpop after Japan and China (THAAD couldn’t stop much).
Apart from a very few exceptions, the western market is not really the cash-cow for majority of Groups and won’t ever be. So I really dont get this obsession for western validation.