After the release of the video clip of BamBam, the superstar of Korean pop music (also known as K-pop), it caused a heated discussion on the Internet among his millions of subscribers (17 million worldwide). The conversation was not only about the song “Sour & Sweet”, but also about where it was filmed: in Greece. In fact, his success is such that in just three weeks his video has already gained 40 million views on YouTube.

The phone of the American Mark Andrews, head of the aria group that produced the production, did not stop ringing. “But I told you that the final destination is Greece,” he told his interlocutors. Although he is usually strict and reserved about the projects he takes on, he was enthusiastic about it. After all, it was his idea to film the entire video clip in Greece last summer. “This is just the beginning of what we want to do in your country,” he tells K. Not through zoom, but live, in Athens. We met at the hotel where he recently stayed with his team, and he told us how one of Korea’s most famous artists ended up in our country.

The beginning of the story goes back to 2016. Franka Mavridis was then working for a Greek distribution company. She was in the car with a colleague, they were talking about dramas, and he asked her if she had seen Korean dramas. At that time they were still completely unknown in Greece. That weekend, Franka started looking out of curiosity and … she was hooked. “These were really high-level productions, with amazing music, incredible scripts and stories,” he explains. After working for several years in America on major Hollywood productions such as Desperate Housewives, he returned to Greece and was constantly looking for something new. He started reading about the phenomenon of Korean entertainment, which was already having a big impact outside of Asia. “I was sure that at some point he would also come to Greece,” he comments today in “K”.

He talked to the company where he worked at the time, but they showed little interest. But she didn’t flinch. He contacted the Korean embassy in Athens and made some preliminary contacts with companies in Seoul. In 2018, she decided to go there at her own expense. “It was strange, but I didn’t feel for a moment that I was in a foreign country. I was fascinated by their culture,” he recalls. He made an appointment, returned, started intensive language lessons and continued to communicate. One of them asked her to help in the production, which was supposed to start in Greece. So in 2019 he worked in the production of “Chocolate”, a Korean series filmed in Monemvasia and Nafplion. In the same year, he again went to Korea. During this second trip, he first met Mark, who has been living here for the past 15 years. They drank coffee and Franca spoke to him enthusiastically about possible cooperation between the two countries. Mark, of course, knew absolutely nothing about Greece at that time. “Except for Santorini,” he clarifies. But he listened to her with interest. “Now this phenomenon has become popular, but I wanted to work with people who really understood and loved Korean culture, and not just for money,” he notes. This is a billion dollar industry. Mark and Franca then left the first business meeting, thinking that they would talk again soon, but a few weeks later the pandemic “froze” everything.

“But I told you that Greece is the final destination,” says the American producer of the video clip, who first came to our country in … 2022.

Two years later, in January 2022, Mark wanted to go on a long holiday trip. Together with his friend, they took the globe and began to look for destinations. “What can you say about Greece? Do we know anyone there? they wondered. On the same day, he texted Franca: “I don’t know if you remember me. We are thinking of coming to Greece for a holiday,” he wrote to her. “Of course you can come, but wouldn’t it be better in the summer?” she answered. But Mark made up his mind. Greece was then one of the few countries where he could travel without restrictions, and he wanted to see it without a lot of tourists. Franca helped him draw up a schedule: Monemvasia, Meteora, Santorini and Athens. At some point, he told her that they were going to ski in Switzerland, and she offered to climb Parnassus. “It was fun. Greece is not only a summer destination, but also an ideal winter destination. Moreover, I realized that everything – democracy, fashion, culture – it all started here,” says Mark enthusiastically.

As the scheduled day of his departure approached and he saw that the strict quarantine measures in Korea were still in place, he decided to stay in Athens for another three weeks. His colleagues came from different countries and from his hotel on Seungro Boulevard organized a concert of the top Korean group BTS in America. When he finally left Greece, he told Franca that he was sure he would return. “I was convinced that Greece has incredible potential and the opportunity to prove itself. I also see a lot of similarities between the two countries. And Korea was considered an outsider a few years ago and needed financial support from the IMF. But we have been reborn and are now considered a huge force. I feel that the same thing will happen with Greece,” he notes.

During his first trip to Greece, he constantly uploaded photos to social networks, and all his friends were delighted with what they saw. One of them was BamBam. Twenty-five years old, originally from Thailand, in addition to being a member of a popular group, he was just starting his solo career. “When he was little, he watched cartoons with the gods of Olympus. He was thrilled with the photos I uploaded from Meteora, so when we discussed where to film our first solo music video, Greece was the obvious choice,” recalls Mark. They notified Franka, who canceled everything she had planned for the summer in order to stage the play. He knew that this would be a test of cooperation between them, as well as opportunities in the country.

Last August, BamBam traveled to Athens with a group of 25 people. Filming was carried out by the Greek production company “Argonauts” together with the Korean team of the artist and lasted three days. In Zappeion, on the beach, on the roof overlooking the Acropolis, in the National Theatre. The result is more like a short film than a video clip. “The collaboration went great. Koreans are incredible professionals. Perfectionists, but also workaholics. I had to remind them many times that in Greece we don’t work 20 hours a day like they do,” Franka laughs. And BamBam himself left excited. Regarding the video clip, he told Korean journalists about his experience in Greece. “I had concerns about how I would work with the locals, but everything was perfect. We matched. My favorite moment was when a Greek cameraman, my father’s age, told me that I reminded him of Michael Jackson in his youth,” he said, concluding that he now wants to return to Greece for the holidays.

Korydallos dancing to Seoul pop music

On the day of the official premiere of BamBam’s video on YouTube, Spyros Lialias watched the live broadcast from his home in Korydallos. He felt great anxiety, but also pride. He was one of the few Greeks who knew that the famous artist had come to Greece but kept it a secret. “Though we’ve made a few hints on our web pages over the past few days and it’s caused a crazy buzz,” he says. Together with Angelika Androulakis, they created K-pop World Greece in 2014, one of the most popular K-pop fanatic groups. “Today, the community has 5,000 hyperactive members, and the number is constantly growing,” he explains.

Spyros was first introduced to music by chance in 2010. He was a high school student at the time (now a computer engineer), and at a technology forum he was attending, he saw a video clip. It was a collaboration between the company and a well-known group at that time. The song was called “Lollipop”, as was the new phone model of the same name that they advertised. “The singers were crazy from top to bottom. The hair and clothes are bizarre and wacky. The music was electronic, but also pop music. I wasn’t sure if I liked it, but I was drawn to him.” He kept looking for it and eventually learned all about the culture and history of South Korea.

They met Angelica in 2014 through Facebook, founded a group and started organizing competitions, events and meetings; at first 20-30 people in different cafes, but quickly ended up gathering 400 people at parties or participating with other groups in choreographic competitions, usually in the courtyard of the OAKI. It goes without saying that everyone knows all the songs by heart – in Korean – and furiously collects every K-Pop item available. Albums (these are not simple record cases, but whole books, music boxes or jewelry cases), lightsticks (lightsticks, separate for each group, which are connected via Bluetooth during concerts and are part of the show). They travel as much as they can with concerts abroad, so when it was announced last December that Jay B, another famous Korean singer, would be coming to Greece, tickets for the concert were sold out in record time. It was the second project of aria and Mark Andrew, who convinced Jay B to make a stop in Greece at the end of their European tour. The reaction of the Greeks surprised everyone.

“The community here is rich and very tight-knit,” Spyros explains. For many members, this is a second family, especially for those who have run into problems with their real family due to this particular profession. “Mom supported me. She liked to hear me laugh,” he notes. (He could watch Korean reality shows for hours and have fun.) The other parents, however, were annoyed. Many said “those Chinese are gay” or “why do men wear makeup?” and rejected everything related to Korean culture. However, the members mature and rarely leave the species. But apart from music, “craze” is now associated with a more general lifestyle – with food, cosmetics and skin care, movies. Is this a passing fad? we ask him. Spiros is definitely not. “It started in 1999. This is the 4th generation. You are constantly mutating and evolving. He has proven that he is here to stay,” he concludes.