At the age of 15, her curiosity led her to become a fan of a Korean drama series, little did she know that this small taste would catapult her to the National Assembly of South Korea, where she would be appointed as an ambassador for the World Expo. Busan 2030 Yiddah Cabrera, 23, is the first Ecuadorian to achieve this distinction.

A young woman from Guayaquil uses her social media to showcase some of the content she likes, Korean culture. On his YouTube channel, with more than a hundred thousand subscribers, It features videos of daily routines, food, and Korean products, among others.

His love for Korea stems from the first k-drama he watched: “You are pretty”; This led her to take an interest in its actors, including translator Jung Yong-hwa, who belongs to the k-pop group, CNBLUE. That’s how Cabrera fell in love with this music genre and the huge entertainment industry in that Asian country.

Although she dreamed of being a YouTuber from a young age, her beginnings they were not with the intention of gaining recognition. I wanted to find people who like the same thing as me, to share what interests me and I think someone else might like it,” reveals the content creator.

In fact, his first videos were homemade and without much production. These are the reactions to the videos of the Korean band BTS, which little by little began to record a greater number of views.

Ecuador and the consumption of Korean content

For Jeddah, Korean culture is strongly inserted in Ecuador. Little by little the Hallyu wave has arrived in the country, this is the cultural phenomenon it describes youth craze for Korean entertainment products.

“The wave that arrived in Ecuador was super strong and not recent, it was before 2017, but after the closure, a lot of Korean content was consumed, including TikTokCabrera points out. In addition, he notes that there are various fan clubs for Korean artists, restaurants and shops in the country, and even cinemas host premieres of South Korean productions.

Subtitles and translations failed, so Yidda decided to study the language. ā€œI studied Korean in every possible way, I studied online, I was in high school and I completed seven levels. Learning to read and mastering the alphabet is easy, but vocabulary and writing are complicated.ā€

BTS will be Busan’s ambassador in the bid to host the 2030 World Expo

A trip to Korea

After eight years of dreaming, the wish came true and Jeddah was able to visit South Korea. “It was all I wanted, to go to the places where they filmed the series I watched, to eat what interested me. I really liked it, it’s a country with a lot to do and they encourage that way of life to their people”.

The biggest influence was the sheer size of Seoul, the capital city, where almost 10 million people live. He could also palpate palipal culture, a term that translates as “quick” or “hurry” and is a cultural tendency to perform everyday activities quickly and efficiently.

The YouTuber traveled to South Korea to fulfill certain work obligations, as she works in the Hallyu Store (Ecuador), but is also part of the influencer network called GIN (Global Influencers Network). It was this group that announced the invitation to be the ambassador of the Expo Busan 2030 World Exhibition.

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World Expo in Busan 2030

What is World Expo? All world exhibitions are aimed at presenting solutions to various challenges, it is a platform for knowledge exchange and cooperation between governments, companies and people.

World Expo 2030 aims to offer all participants the opportunity to showcase their innovations. The candidate cities are Busan, Rome (Italy), Odessa (Ukraine) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).

For several years now, Busan has started appointing ambassadors for its World Expo, with the intention of revealing more details about the city. In 2022 this title was given to the band BTS. After the selection process, The Ecuadorian influencer is now one of her ambassadors, as one of the few who do not live in South Korea.

ā€œThey checked my profile and content. Then they told me that I had been elected and that they were waiting for me in the Korean National Assembly.ā€ After a ceremony and recognition by the legislature, April 4 Yidda and other influencers will take it upon themselves to show their audience life in Busan. (AND)