“Hablo español.” The words are simple: “I speak Spanish.” But when Kim Byung-sun opens with it before a Mexican audience, the room often laughs before he has delivered a conventional punch line. Part of the joke is the surprise of seeing a Korean man walk onto a local open-mic stage in Latin America and announce in Spanish that he can speak the language. Part of the joke is his own self-awareness that even by his own account, his Spanish is far from flawless. “People who majored in Spanish would probably say I cannot speak Spanish well,” Kim said with a laugh during an interview with The Korea Times, Monday. “My grammar is terrible. My vocabulary is a mess. But they cannot ignore me, because they cannot do what I do onstage.” Known online as Comico, Kim has built a distinctly transnational career through Spanish-language videos and stand-up comedy. Based in Mexico City, he performs for local audiences, tests jokes at open mics and makes online content for his YouTube channel, which has 1 million subscribers. He is among the very few Koreans — and possibly the only one w