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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
John Bartlett in Santiago, Thomas Graham in Tijuana and Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

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

Super Junior perform in São Paulo, Brazil
From left: Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Donghae, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun of Super Junior perform in São Paulo, Brazil. Photograph: Mauricio Santana/Getty Images

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.

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