Introduction: Why fandom matters to the international rise of K-pop

Abstract

This chapter shows how Korean dramas in Latin America have piqued cultural interest in Korea as a whole, and paved the way for the influx of K-pop. It explains that Japanese popular cultures have been a powerful intermediary for the "chemistry" between K-pop and Latin American youth. The chapter explores a conceptual discussion on how K-pop gets acclimatised to Latin American cultural milieus. Korean dramas have continued to attract young and middle-aged female audiences in Latin America. The K-pop industry, too, has long been a "tenant" in the cluttered edifice of Korean dramas. While sound effects are rarely engaged in dramas, an excessive dosage of background and theme songs tend to saturate the whole stretch of a programme's running time. K-pop cover dance was later repurposed into a bridgehead to expand the global foothold of K-pop by Korean broadcasting networks hand in hand with para-state bureaus.