Carolina Steinert, founder and CEO of HIT! Magazine, holds the magazine's February issues featuring K-pop girl group TWICE. Courtesy of Carolina Steinert By Dong Sun-hwa When Carolina Steinert first caught a glimpse of K-pop act SHINee on the internet 13 years ago, she had no idea how a boy band from the opposite side of the planet would change her life. The singers, who mesmerized her with their jaw-dropping choreography and music video, opened the door to new opportunities for her, prompting Steinert to become a K-pop content creator on YouTube and a K-pop dance teacher.
The zealous K-pop fan also got her journalism license and began writing for Todateen, a Brazilian magazine about general pop culture. However, Steinert thought her solo effort was not enough. She felt she needed more people to join her in promoting Korean culture in her home country, and ended up launching HIT! Magazine in 2023 — the first of its kind in Brazil dedicated to Korean culture.
"At that time, no company wanted to hire and pay someone to talk about K-pop," Steinert said in a recent email interview with The Korea Times. "So, I decided to create one on my own and have editorial control over what was posted about it. I believe Korean culture should be highly respected and K-pop should be treated as something serious — not something childish.
" Carolina Steinert, founder and CEO of HIT! Magazine / Courtesy of Carolina Steinert According to Steinert, K-pop and Korean culture are hitting high notes .
