Young Latin leaders learning K-pop
Amaury Hechavarria Nistal, left, vice president of Jose Marti Cultural Center in Cuba, and Antonio Angel Soliz Tapia, third from left, anchor of radio station Batallon Colorados and head of Asian fan club AWy from Bolivia, pose along with other visiting Latin American leaders of SM Entertainment in Apgujeong-dong, southern Seoul, on Friday.
By Park Jin-hai
Young leaders from Latin American countries, mostly in their 20’s and 30’s, said that K-pop is huge in their region and its popularity is spinning off interest in other things Korean.
“I am impressed by the size of Korean entertainment agency’s global business model and its advanced star-churning system,” said Amaury Hechavarria Nistal, 37, vice president of the Jose Marti Cultural Center in Cuba.
He and seven others, including a head of Asian music fan club and government officials from Latin American countries such as Bolivia, Cuba, and Ecuador, toured the SM entertainment on Friday.
Over the past decade, K-pop has grown steadily in the minds of Latin American fans, accompanied by the popularity of such Korean dramas as “Stairways to Heaven” and “Jewel in the Palace” to prompt the fans to venture into other Korean cultural content.
“Now K-fashion is the next big thing. After viewing Korean dramas and the stars on the Internet, many young Bolivians regard Korean styles as stylish,” said Antonio Angel Soliz Tapia, 33, a Bolivian radio anchor and head of Asian music fan club “AWy.” “That changed their parents’ fashion, too,” he added.
But for the moment, K-pop reigns dominant.
“I am a big fan of K-pop. My mission is complete now that I delivered fans’ gifts to the artists of SM Entertainment,” said Soliz Tapia.
His fan club has more than 5,000 members, in a country where the total population is only 10 million. In the K-pop Cover dance Competition held in Bolivia in May, some 3,500 people participated. Its organizer initially expected to see 200 to 300 people, given that no K-pop idol was present. “Some people came to the competition bearing more than 10-hour bus rides,” said Soliz Tapia.
As of July 2012, Latin America has 298 such clubs with 180,000 members. So far, its number is incomparable to those of Asia, which ranked the first place with 355 clubs and over 5 million members, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Among Latin American countries, Mexico ranked top with 70 clubs, followed by Peru and Brazil, with 55 and 35 respectively.
Major entertainment agencies have held concerts in the region, despite of the fact that the profits made there are barely over the break-even point. Officials at SM Entertainment had said that the Korean artists performing in Latin America will gain the upper hand in the “growth-potential” market.
The two-member boy-band TVXQ held concert on July 7 in Chile. In June, seven-member boy band U-Kiss held a concert in Peru, Columbia and Mexico, for the third time heading for Latin American nations. Super Junior also held concerts in four Latin American nations, meeting 40,000 fans in April.
“Latin America is a newly rising K-pop market. We included SM Entertainment to the itinerary as one of the entertainment businesses that most actively venture into global markets,” said Suh Soo-yon, an official of the Korea Foundation (KF).
Those on the tour came to Korea by the invitation of the KF, between July 20-27. The foundation has been organizing the event since 2001 to promote Korea’s national image among Latin American nations.