by The Korean Wave is not unusual in Brazil, and South America, which is on the other side of the globe from Korea.
However, recently, as the story of a Korean man who tried to cheat by exploiting the hearts of Hallyu fans, the worries and disappointments of Hallyu fans in Brazil are growing.
Reporter Kim Soo-han from Brazil delivered what it was about.
A K-pop fan living in Brazil, while enjoying K-pop, had a conversation with a man living in Korea through social media.
As they continued talking about Korean culture, the two quickly became close, and the man promised to go to Brazil to meet Mr. A.
However, on the day we agreed to meet, the man contacted the airport police and said that his belongings were confiscated and that he could be released only by sending money to his account, and it turned out that it was all a scam.
This man said he was going to Brazil and was caught trying to deceive Mr. A by changing the flight ticket from Gwangju to Jeju to ‘Brazil’ in English only.
The Consulate General of São Paulo, who investigated the case after receiving a call from Mr. A, who was suspicious of asking for a large amount of money, recently abused K-pop fan sentiment on the Internet. I’ve been warned that this is often the case.
Kang Dong-Geun / Attorney at the Consulate General of São Paulo Incident/Accident Administrative Office: The Korean Wave is widely known in Brazil, so that Internet crime cases may increase. (There have been several cases where a Korean man met on the Internet a Brazilian Hallyu fan) tricked them into making money by coming to Korea for prostitution.
This news quickly spread among Hallyu fans, and fans said they could be victims too. I fell into worry and great disappointment.
Ana Paolina / Brazilian K-Pop Cover Dance Team: I bought a ticket because a Korean idol group was going to a concert in São Paulo, but they did not perform and did not refund me.
Amanda Oliveira / Brazilian K-Pop fan: If the Korean or Korean government can share information about how scams happen, we’ll pay more attention and won’t get caught up in scams like this again.
Koreans in Brazil are also concerned.
The recent influx of Hallyu fans to Koreatown has been a great help in revitalizing the commercial district because there is concern that fans may change their minds if this incident continues.
Koh Woo-Seok / Brazil Koreatown Development Committee Chairman: If this happens, you are pouring cold water on the Korean Wave. It is against the national interest. So, we must do our best to let our compatriots know this to Brazilian society so that it doesn’t happen again.
Brazilian Hallyu fans and compatriots hope that there will be no more cases of abuse of the hearts of fans who love Korean culture from afar.
This is Suhan Kim from YTN World in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
