By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Konstantinos Christopoulos from Greece
Photos = Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Greece

The Greek finals of the K-pop World Festival are taking place in Athens for the first time since 2013, under the auspices of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Greece. The winners of the national contest will advance to the final rounds that are held every year in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, Korea, just west of Busan.

The Mikis Theodarakis Cultural Center was crowded on July 9 with fans of K-pop and of Korean pop culture, TV shows and movies, and people were ready for some excellent performances by the contestants with their singing and dancing.

The Korean ambassador in Greece, Lim Soosuk, welcomed the audience and said that Korean pop groups like BTS and EXO, through their music, unite young people all around the world and spread the fame of Korean pop music, TV shows and movies to Greece and elsewhere.



As a Korea.net Honorary Reporter in Greece, I had the chance to talk with three fans who attended the event.

Argyro, 22, is a new K-pop fan from Athens. She said that it was the first time for her to attend the World K-pop Festival in Greece. She is a fan of BTS and through K-pop she has also become acquainted with Korean heritage and traditions. Argyro said that it was a wonderful experience to participate in the event and she realized how big and diverse the K-pop fanbase was in Greece, with people of many ethnicities, ages and sexes all loving the same thing. She expressed her desire to attend the event also next year in order to meet new people and to learn even more about Korea.

Garyfallia, 26, said that it was the third time for her to attend the event. She first got interested in pop music in Korea in 2012 with the success of Psy’s global sensation "Gangnam Style," but later she began to follow actual K-pop groups, like Big Bang, 2NE1, BTS, Winner and Shinee. Garyfallia also enjoys Korean soap operas and she loves the Korean language and traditions. She really loved the performances and the reactions of the crowd were the best part of the festival, giving a feeling that someone was at a big party. Next year she will participate also in the event with her friends.

Katerina, 46, and a mother of four children, is a fan of Korean soap operas and pop music, ever since 2013, and she follows the pop stars Shinee and BTS. She attended the event with her two daughters. She enjoyed the positive, happy energy that was emitted across the whole theater by the presenters, the judges and, of course, by the contestants and the audience. Katerina would definitely like to attend the Greek finals of the World K-pop Festival next year.

The growing wave of popularity for Korean pop music, TV shows and movies in East Asia and elsewhere is now sweeping across Greece and Eastern Europe, too, and we are optimistic that over the next few years more and more fans from Athens to Thessaloniki, and from Corfu to Crete, will learn about the wonders of modern Korean pop culture.

wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.