hankyoreh

In the upper photo, Mongolian teens cheer during K-pop idol group U-Kiss’s performance at the joint concert held in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between South Korea and Mongolia, Nov. 29. The fans sing together, hold signs with the K-pop stars names written on them and take pictures.

In the lower photo, seven member group U-KISS sing and dance in the concert.

Although this concert was held on the day when the city was covered with white snow and cold at the 15 degrees below zero Celsius, the 3,000 tickets to the concert were sold out. This concert, organized by South Korea’s Arirang international television and the biggest private broadcaster MN25 in Mongolia, will be aired to 188 countries. 　　

There are six Korean television channels in the city, outnumbering American, Chinese and Japanese channels with four each, with a population of 1 million thanks to the popularity of Korean culture.

Some anti-Korean sentiment, however, has begun to arise among the older generation who experienced difficult lives in South Korea as migrant workers.

(Photo courtesy of Arirang TV, Story by Heur Mi-kyung)