By Aisylu Akhmetzianova
Foreign influencers who promote Korean culture to the world will gather in Seoul next week for a grand celebration.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Oct. 24 announced its hosting of the 2024 K-Wave Festival on Nov. 2 at Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul's Gwangjin-gu District.
The first half of the event will feature the K-Creators Awards, which recognize those who have contributed to promoting Korea like Korea.net's Honorary Reporters through articles and K-influencers through videos, as well as the best works from each category of the international Korean content competition Talk Talk Korea.
The second half will announce the winning team of the K-Community Challenge, an online contest for Hallyu (Korean Wave) clubs. The team will perform at a celebratory concert with K-pop girl groups WOOAH and BEBE and boy bands EPEX and SF9.
Among the five Honorary Reporters to be honored this year is East Timor's Frenky Ramiro de Jesus, whose in-depth and multidimensional articles were based on his visits to hidden attractions in Korea and gave tips for living there.
In the K-influencer category, a team led by Aiyaphat Wankawisant from Thailand is among the five winners. She created an entertainment-format video introducing Korean culture in an interesting manner.
Five individuals won prizes in their respective categories for Talk Talk Korea and four teams won the K-Community Challenge.
The Nov. 2 event will be livestreamed worldwide on the official YouTube channels of Korea.net (www.youtube.com/@GatewayToKorea) and the K-Community Festival (www.youtube.com/@kcommunityfestival).
"Korean culture is now widely known around the world thanks to the passion and efforts of foreign promotional activists and creators," Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In Chon said. "We will provide all support to make Korean culture shine worldwide."
This is the official poster for the 2024 K-Wave Festival. (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)
