Everything Korean – from K-pop and skincare to food and clothing – is booming in popularity in Chile, Mexico and Brazil
On the polished flagstones of a Santiago cultural centre’s forecourt, four Chilean girls dance in energetic union, counting their steps aloud in Korean.
In front of them, a YouTube video with 1.3bn views plays atop a speaker throbbing to the beat of How You Like That, by the K-pop megastars Blackpink.
What might have drawn bemused looks a decade ago now puts them at the forefront of a phenomenon that is ever more present across Latin America.
From food to television, skincare to clothing, Korean culture is flooding the region – and spreading far beyond what was once a niche interest.
