For many, TikTok is a place for dance challenges and memes. But for Mini, a 22-year-old creator with more than a million subscribers, it's an opportunity to bridge the gap between two nations she calls home.


In one of her most popular TikToks, Mini, whose Korean name is Kim Ha-min, pours hand soap on the floor of her kitchen and performs a playful dance from her knees to Shakira and Karol G's “TQG” (2023). The video had almost 770,000 views as of press time, with more than 3,000 comments in English, Spanish and Korean.


Born in Korea but raised primarily in Guatemala, the content creator attended an international school and also lived briefly in Venezuela — experiences that, as she put it, made her “identify myself as a third culture Kid ,” or TCK, a term coined by sociologists that describes individuals raised in a place that was neither their parents' nor their own country of nationality. Having moved back to Korea during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mini now leverages those dual backgrounds to cater to a passionate but oft-overlooked audience: Spanish-speaking K-pop fans.

“When I was younger I guess I used to get a little bit stressed at the fact that I didn't have a single home country,” she shared. “But nowadays, I’ve come to accept that sometimes I feel more Guatemalan, sometimes I feel more Korean — and that’s totally okay.”

What was once an identity crisis has now become Mini's comparative advantage in a crowded creator space. “I realized that there were not so many content creators who spoke Spanish but were Korean,” she said. “And so I thought, why not present Korean culture and K-pop dances to my TikTok Spanish audience?”

What began as a few playful dance clips soon evolved into content that introduced Korea and K-pop in Spanish, sparking interest among Spanish-speaking audiences curious about Korean culture. Before long, TikTok became a space where Mini, who currently studies psychology at Korea University, could fully express herself, embrace her hybrid identity and connect with audiences who had similar interests.

“I started my TikTok journey because I realized that there's more people like me out there,” Mini said.

The TikTok creator spoke to the Korea JoongAng Daily about her journey to becoming a content creator that “bridges the gap” between Korea and Spanish-speaking audiences.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.


Q. How did you end up moving to Guatemala?

A. I moved to Guatemala when I was around three to four. We headed there because my parents are Christian missionaries and so they wanted to expand their mission there. I have Korean citizenship and permanent residency in Guatemala.

Why did you return to Korea?

My original plan was to study fashion design in London, but right near my 11th to 12th grade is when Covid happened, and I realized that health insurance-wise and scholarship-wise, it would be better for me to come to study in Korea. And I chose the psychology major at Korea University because we didn't really have a fashion major at the time. I was really scared of coming to study in Korea because although I do speak Korean, I don't think that I'm proficient enough to be able to take university classes in Korean.

Do you see yourself as a third culture kid? If you do, have you ever felt like an outsider in Korea or Latin America?

I definitely do identify myself as a third culture kid, or as a TCK, that they call it. I do feel like an outsider in both countries. I don't feel like I completely fit in somewhere. I also moved from Guatemala to Venezuela at one point in my life and I think that just added on to the whole identity crisis. But if there's one thing that has helped me kind of overcome, that is when I started by TikTok journey [and] realized that there's more people like me out there.

When and how did you start TikTok?

It was when Covid had just started happening in Guatemala, and I saw a lot of ads of TikTok videos of people doing like their finger dances, and it was so cute, but it had millions of likes, and I just thought to myself, hey, I can do that. And so that's how it all started.

What do you think contributed to your content's popularity?

It was at a time when there was a whole Korea boom and people were suddenly interested and they wanted to see Korean content, hear about Korean culture, Korean beauty in a language that they could understand. And I was just there at the perfect time, ready to serve it to them in Spanish.

There's a perception that Korean society places high importance on appearance. You often post makeup and skincare-related videos. Have you personally felt this pressure?

Definitely, in Guatemala, I used to go out in my PJs to go to McDonald's and to go to school because nobody really cares. But I feel like here, everybody's looking so neat. I think on the bright side, it shows how much people are taking care of themselves, which is motivating. But on the downside, it shows some unrealistic beauty standards that I feel like I'm never going to fit into. I try to not get so stressed out about my weight, but I know that whenever I do go shopping in Korea, sizes are a little bit more limited, and it does get in my head sometimes.

Q. Do you feel like a bridge between Latin America and Korea?

That's actually been my biggest goal. My goal is to be a bridge not only coming from Latin America to Korea, but also presenting Latin America to Korean. So it goes vice versa, and it's my goal to be a bridge.

Q. Any tip for aspiring content creators?

Just start. Believe me, starting means that you're already halfway there. It's the scariest part where you feel like everybody's judging you, your friends are watching, you feel like you're the cringe. But believe me, everything is going to be fine. And in fact, people are going to be jealous once you succeed. So just get out there, put yourself out there and do what you want to do.

BY WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]