Elements of Korean culture captured the heart of Brazil and other parts of Latin America, which are located at the opposite end of the earth. The 2014 Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo, held at the World Trade Center in São Paulo, Brazil, between August 13 and 15, introduced some elements of Korean culture, as well as information technology, fashion and food.

Some 69 Korean companies and over 230 Brazilian counterparts held business talks at the expo, while the Korean pavilion presented popular Korean animation characters such as Larva, games and TV dramas. A K-pop concert, cover dance performance by Brazilian fans, and makeup fashion shows on the opening day caught much of the attention of spectators.





After the opening ceremony, VIXX, a Korean boy band, performed some hit songs such as "Voodoo Doll" and "Eternity." Over one thousand fans cheered, applauded and sang along in Korean. Although it was the first time for the boy band to visit the country, the VIXX fan club in Brazil has 4,000 members. Some girls were overwhelmed with emotion and sat on the floor crying. The boy band also performed some songs in an appearance on "Agora e Tarde," a popular talk show of Band TV, a major television network in Brazil.

As part of the effort to introduce Korean culture, there was a traditional craft exhibit that showcased mulberry paper, pottery, lacquer-wear and ramie fabric, among other things. Visitors could try out the hanbok, a form of traditional Korean clothing. A "virtual museum" presented Korean arts using information technology.

A Korean cuisine showcase let visitors sample Korean foods in order to experience their beauty and flavors. Son Jung-soo, known as João Son in Brazil, held a food tasting event and introduced japchae, stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables; bulgogi, grilled marinated beef; bibimbap, a mixture of rice and fresh vegetables; sikhye, a sweet rice drink; and sujeonggwa, persimmon punch. For Brazilians not very familiar with Korean cuisines, Son came up with fusion cuisines such as kimchi bruschetta, as well as a bulgogi, or marinated beef, wrap. Japchae, in particular, was very popular. Bruschetta is originally an antipasto from Italy consisting of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper.




The organizer held a quiz event on Korean foods and gave away as prizes hangwa, traditional Korean cookies and sweets, and yugwa, oil and honey pastries, contained in a lucky bag. A Brazilian television station ran live coverage of the tasting event.

At business meetings, Korean animation companies such as Redrover and Grafizix signed export and investment deals with Brazilian companies. Grafizix made an agreement with Astrolab Motion, based in Argentina, to jointly invest USD 230,000. Everyshow also reached a deal with Contents 360 Audiovisua, a Brazilian distributor, to export animations such as "Psychic Hero" and documentary programs. Han A Tech, a Korean company specializing in building tension fabric structures, made an agreement with a Brazilian company to jointly bid for procurement projects for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In total, Korean companies held 234 business talks with 56 foreign companies.

"Korean animations are technologically advanced and have fast development of stories, and so viewers of different age groups can easily understand them," said Federico Badia, an executive producer and director at Astrolab Motion. "Several Korean animations including 'Pucca' have already been very popular in South America. Latin Americans like cute and lovely characters like those in Korean animations."



By Limb Jae-un
Korea.net Staff Writer
jun2@korea.kr