K-pop and Cultural Community in Brazil

K-pop and Cultural Community in Brazil

The Korean Wave in Latin America has started since late 2000s. Brazil is one of Latin American countries where the Korean Wave has widely spread out. Internet and social network services (SNS) contributed to distributing the Korean Wave contents and encouraging the content receivers. This online communities has promoted the Korean Wave. K-pop leads to the Korean Wave in Brazil, which enhances the familiarity and favorability on Korea and Korean culture. This study intends to discuss the Korean Wave as a way to build cultural relationship between Korea and Brazil. The study conducted the focus group discussion (FGD) research and the e-mail interviews with local young people. Findings suggested that K-pop fans in Brazil not only consumed the Korean Wave contents (i.e. Korean dramas, movies and musics) but also recreated the K-pop contents by incorporating their own local culture. The Korean Wave has spread out with local fans' effort, which ultimately promotes cross-cultural understanding between South Korea and Brazil.