‘The US is no longer the go-to place’: How Korean culture is taking Latin America by storm

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. In Mexico, Sujin Kim, known by her pseudonym Chingu Amiga, has become one of the country’s most popular online personalities, with videos exploring K-dramas and recommending skincare products to more than 12 million followers. In Colombia, where the K-pop World Festival was held in 2025, the Korean YouTuber Zion Hwang has set up a string of karaoke restaurants to profit from the boom. And in Brazil, where South Korea’s former ambassador is fondly remembered for his viral renditions of Brazilian songs, Korean and Korean Brazilian influencers such as Arthur Paek, who has 6.3 million Instagram followers, are also making waves promoting Korean culture and cuisine. The “Korean wave” – or hallyu – that brought the country’s culture to the world has now well and truly engulfed Latin America. Mexico is K-pop’s fifth global market, and such was the demand for tickets for the comeback tour by K-pop behemoth BTS, that the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, wrote to her Korean counterpart to help plan extra dates. The tour will also land in Bogotá, Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires and São Paulo. “It all began during the pandemic for us,” says Daniela Im, who lives and works in Patronato, the small Santiago neighbourhood that received a tiny influx of economic migrants from Korea in the 1970s. K-dramas and hit films such as Parasite soared in popularity during lockdown, and when restrictions eased, I…