중남미

Being important for Korean society nowadays as never before, Hallyu is considered to be an interesting and unique movement which can be defined as a cultural phenomenon, because it has impacted on different societies all over the world. Being recognized as a Korean cultural phenomenon, Hallyu resulted in a surprising contemporary movement playing an important role as the face of Korea overseas. As a socio-cultural phenomenon Hallyu should be understood as having a hybrid nature. Therefore it helps to understand its success impacting on diverse societies. Besides this hybridity, containing non Korean elements, Hallyu still have local characteristics which allow it to appear as a unique Korean cultural movement. When analyzing closer the impact of Hallyu on overseas societies, it is evident that many factors have supported the success, diffusion and spread of this cultural phenomenon. The support of the Korean Government, the development of the Korean entertainment industry, cultural aspects, quality of the entertainments as well as the mass media and the internet are just some of them. In this paper I analyze the impact of Hallyu on Mexican society, specifically the impact of Hallyu on Mexico through the Korean pop idols’ fan clubs. The research is based on field work data and interviews obtained in Mexico City and data obtained through the main web pages of current fan clubs. The role of Mexican fan clubs has been the most important for the spread of Hallyu in Mexico, as these, have strengthened the existence of this phenomenon among Mexican society. It is a fact that Hallyu is having a big influence on Mexican popular tastes. Its existence shows that the Korean entertainment products are successful in Mexico in the present and that the main channels of diffusion are the cyberspaces and fan clubs activities. As a result the study reveals many interesting aspects which explain the reason why the fans are consuming Korean products, mainly entertainment ones. It also brings into light the main sources which not only spread but also diffuse these products into Mexican society in general.