Summer K-pop Festival held in central Seoul

"Summer K-pop Festival" was held in Seoul Plaza on Monday. The festival was planned by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization to revive stagnant domestic market hit by Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak and to make known images of "MERS-free Korea" to foreign tourists. Major K-pop idol groups such as Infinite and T-ara, which are leading the K-pop fever abroad, participated in the event. Two major amusement parks Everland and Lotte World, which are suffering a blow due to the decrease of foreign tourists to Korea, also took a part in the festival for promotion activities.

“As Korea’s global reputation has been damaged by the MERS outbreak, domestic companies and small store owners took a hit. Starting from this festival where many people participated including Korean culture wave stars, I expect the tourism of Korea will start to revive,” said Lee Jae-seong, director of International Tourism Events Division at the Korea Tourism Organization. The agency distributed free tickets to the festival through SNS media. Prior to the public opening of the event, around 2,000 foreigners applied for the tickets and all of 2,800 seats designated for foreign tourists were fully taken during the festival.

In particular, "Korea culture wave supporters" drew attention. The supporters consist of 300 foreigners staying in Korea, including university students, English teachers and office workers from 40 nations. The supporters gathered in the morning of the day and let foreigners visiting Seoul know about major tourist attractions in Korea including the Summer K-pop Festival.

“Hallyu (Korean pop culture wave) supporters will join the Kimchi-making Culture Festival and the Winter Ski Festival to help foreign tourists on the site and publicize these festivals,” said Yoo Jin-ho, chief of the Strategic Product Team at the tourism organization.