국가권력급

국가권력급 (Guk-ga-gwon-nyeok-geup)

This meme began to gain significant popularity starting in January 2024, when the first season of the anime adaptation of the popular web novel 'Solo Leveling' began airing.

'국가권력급' (guk-ga-gwon-nyeok-geup), meaning "National Authority Level" or "Nation-Level Power," is a term that originated from the web novel 'Solo Leveling'. Within the story, it refers to the strongest hunters who possess such overwhelming power that their mere existence can represent an entire nation, or they can single-handedly contend with one. When used as a meme, it emphasizes something that is top-tier, exceptionally outstanding, or possesses overwhelming performance in a specific field. Similar to the Korean slang 'King-wang-jjang' (meaning "the best of the best"), it is used by attaching '국가권력급' before an object or person when one wants to highly praise it.

This meme also has several derivative expressions. If something is slightly insufficient to be called '국가권력급' or is in an ambiguous state due to considering cost-effectiveness, it might be self-deprecatingly referred to as '지방권력급' (ji-bang-gwon-nyeok-geup, "Local Authority Level") or '지방군수급' (ji-bang-gun-su-geup, "Local Governor Level"). Conversely, in cases where something is so exceptionally outstanding that '국가권력급' isn't enough to describe it, larger-scale expressions like '세계권력급' (se-gye-gwon-nyeok-geup, "World Authority Level"), '지구권력급' (ji-gu-gwon-nyeok-geup, "Earth Authority Level"), or even '우주권력급' (u-ju-gwon-nyeok-geup, "Cosmic Authority Level") are used.

Guk-ga-gwon-nyeok-geup (국가권력급)

• Guk-ga: Sounds like "gook-gah" (as in "book" and "father")
• gwon-nyeok: Sounds like "gwon-nyuk" (as in "gone" and "luck")
• geup: Sounds like "geup" (as in "cup" but with a slightly tighter 'eu' sound)

It is primarily used actively among fans who enjoy the 'Solo Leveling' web novel or anime, and the younger generation who watch broadcasts by internet streamer Ralo. It has particularly spread within gaming communities like MapleLand and tends to be widely used among the general younger generation, including males in their teens to thirties who are familiar with internet culture.