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Korea Herald
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Seoul to host inaugural 'MyK Festa' in June, showcasing full spectrum of hallyu
Fans of Korean cultural content and global entertainment industry leaders will converge in Seoul this June for the first-ever MyK Festa, a large-scale festival celebrating the Korean Wave, or hallyu, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Thursday. Co-hosted by the ministry and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, the four-day event will run from June 19 to 22 at Olympic Park and surrounding venues in southeastern Seoul. Designed as a comprehensive celebration of Korean culture, MyK Festa will feature major K-pop concerts, a global content industry conference, interactive exhibitions, cultural experiences, and business programs aimed at supporting Korean companies with global ambitions. The event will also promote regional tourism, according to organizers. The festival will open with a star-studded K-pop concert at KSPO Dome on June 19, featuring WayV, Lee Young-ji, aespa, ILLIT and Hearts2Hearts. Additional performances on June 21 and 22 will include ITZY, Chungha, Heize, Lyn, Lee Mu-jin, and BE'O. The final concert will shine a spotlight on Korean traditional music, with contemporary reinterpretations by groups such as ADG7 and Uheeska. From June 19 to 22, the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium will house a large-scale exhibition space featuring interactive booths and showcases from about 100 domestic companies across sectors such as music, television, webtoons, cuisine and lifestyle. A global conference on the future of the content industry will be held on June 20, drawing key figures from across the international media landscape. 'Hallyu is evolving beyond popular entertainment to influence broader industries and global consumption patterns,' said Yune Yang-su, director of international cultural affairs and public relations at the culture ministry. 'With MyK Festa, we aim to deepen global fan engagement and unlock new industrial value for Korean culture worldwide.'
South China Morning Post
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
BTS and beyond: K-pop remains top global symbol of South Korean culture, survey shows
K-pop continues to be the most recognised symbol of South Korean culture around the world, even as the country's cuisine, TV dramas and beauty products gain ground among global fans, according to the results of a new international survey. Advertisement The 2025 Global Hallyu Survey, released on Monday, showed that 17.8 per cent of respondents with prior experience of Korean culture said pop music was the first thing they associated with the country – keeping K-pop in the top spot for an eighth consecutive year. The term hallyu, which literally means 'Korean wave', refers to the growing global popularity of South Korea's cultural exports. The annual survey, conducted by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, polled 6,400 people aged 15 to 59 across 28 countries between November 29 and December 27 last year. The latest study included the Philippines and Hong Kong for the first time. Lisa, Jisoo, Jennie, and Rosé of Blackpink performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 15, 2023. Photo: AFP Other top associations with South Korea included its cuisine, TV dramas, cosmetics and films, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. For the first time since 2012, IT products and brands fell out of the top five.
Korea Herald
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Overseas, image most associated with Korea is still K-pop: survey
Favorable perception of Korean culture and products rises, but excessive commercialization, North Korea concerns have negative impact, according to survey For the eighth consecutive year, K-pop has been named the most prominent image associated with South Korea according to a global survey. The 2025 Global Hallyu Survey, released Monday by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, showed 17.8 percent of respondents said K-pop was the first thing that came to mind when they thought of Korea. The survey was conducted across 28 countries from Nov. 29 to Dec. 27, 2024, targeting 26,400 people aged 15 to 59 who had experienced Korean cultural content. The Philippines and Hong Kong were included in the survey for the first time. The second most common answer was Korean cuisine, which came to mind for 11.8 percent, followed by Korean dramas (8.7 percent), beauty products (6.4 percent) and Korean films (5.6 percent). For the first time since 2012, IT products and brands fell out of the top five with only 5.1 percent. Among K-pop artists, 24.6 percent of respondents rated BTS as the most popular act, securing the band's spot at the top for a seventh consecutive year. Blackpink followed with 12.3 percent, marking its sixth consecutive year in second place. IU, Psy and Twice rounded out the top five, with 3.1 percent, 2.2 percent, and 1.8 percent, respectively. The overall favorability rating for Korean content stood at 70.3 percent, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous year. The newly added category of Korean language recorded a favorability rating of 75.4 percent. For the fourth year in a row, the Netflix original series "Squid Game" was named the most popular Korean drama, chosen by 9.7 percent of respondents. "Queen of Tears" followed with 6.5 percent, and "Crash Landing on You" came in third with 2.2 percent. In the film category, "Parasite" directed by Bong Joon-ho maintained its top position for the fifth consecutive year with 8.3 percent. "Train to Busan" ranked second with 6.5 percent, and "Exhuma" came third with 4.1 percent. Actor Lee Min-ho remained the most popular Korean actor for 12 consecutive years, chosen by 7 percent of the respondents. Actors Gong Yoo, Song Hye-kyo followed in second and third place, while the scandal-ridden actor Kim Soo-hyun secured fourth place. The survey also highlighted the growing economic impact of Korean culture. Among those who had experienced Korean content, 58.9 percent said they were likely to purchase Korean products or services in the future. This marks an increase of 8.2 percentage points compared to the previous year. Furthermore, 22.1 percent said their reason for purchase was the product's appearance in Korean movies or television shows, a 5 percentage point rise from the year before. However, the survey also noted a rise in negative perceptions of Hallyu as its global influence expands. A total of 37.5 percent of respondents said they agreed with negative views about Korean pop culture, the highest figure in the past five years and a 4.9 percentage point increase from last year. The most cited reasons included excessive commercialization, concerns about North Korea's international presence, and the desire to protect local content in their own countries.
