Isn't it basically the same as back when western boybands were popular, just with more internet? I suppose I don't quite get those, either, but it's not that hard to figure out why these groups are so appealing to many girls and women.
Is it something more than just Korean pop groups? Is it a fetish? This is the most I’ve thought about it honestly because some of the fans just made it nuts.
I worked at a B&N and the calls I would get for exclusive versions… 12 versions of the same album except for some trading card inside or something.
"fetish" might be a bit much, but I think the somewhat effeminate style of the men in these groups is a very welcome contrast to the kinds of male musicians who are popular with boys+men. They also heavily feature dancing, which is a lot more popular with women than men, too. And it's probably specifically about korean groups because korea has a large boygroup+girlgroup industry and being east-asian they have a novelty-bonus (dare I say exoticism-bonus?) compared to western groups.