3 - 4 years ago the relevancy of kpop in korean society was more noticeable. on the skreets you'd see idol faces in ads, subways, tv, radios. regular (non-kpop fan) koreans would bring up a kpop song they like, etc.
now in 2021 kpop is barely visible. the music stores selling kpop albums is a tiny section, only a few middle school girls go there.
barely any CFs or ads featuring idols, just a few jennie ads here and there now, when before Irene's face was on like every street corner.
people don't bring up kpop anymore. they aren't up to date with the latest. Brave Girls is the only exception but they aren't even considered 'kpop', more like a temporary cultural icon.
there's no "it girl" or "it boy" now. you may say Hwasa or Kang Daniel, but they are much less seen and heard of in recent years. Kang Daniel used to be everywhere in 2017. There used to be SM store, restaurant, museum open in several places. now it's all closed down and empty.
the lack of live events and corona killed off the kpop hype. "but what about BTS", again it's mostly a large dedicated fandom supporting them and the public recognizes their success, but that's it. they have their CFs but it's not like the fever pitch hype Kang Daniel had with Korean women in general.
This goes for other groups too but I see this sentiment a lot with BTS in particular... and this is coming from a non-fan. It just has 
