1. The final round of the “K-Pop World Festival 2016” will be held in Changwon on September 30, co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) and the Korean Culture and Information Service with the support of Changwon city, Kyongnam Bank and the Korea Tourism Organization.

◦ The “K-Pop World Festival,” which marks the sixth of its kind in 2016, is a global Hallyu (Korean Wave) festival participated by K-pop-loving foreigners. In this year’s event, some 13,000 people in about 4,500 teams took part in the preliminary competitions in 80 regions in 65 countries across the world.

° A total of 15 teams from Nigeria, Nepal, Russia, Malaysia, Mexico, the US, Vietnam, Sweden, Israel, Italy, India, Indonesia, Japan, China and Hungary advanced to the final round after thorough evaluations by K-pop experts.

° The final round of the “K-Pop World Festival 2016” will be broadcast in the ROK and 100 other countries across the world on KBS 2TV and KBS World, respectively.

◦ The finalists are on a 13-day visit to the ROK from September 20, enjoying various activities in the homeland of K-pop, including receiving special instructions from K-pop experts; experiencing traditional Korean culture; visiting the KBS as guest audience for its music television program “Music Bank”; and experiencing a temple stay.

2. The final round of the “K-Pop World Festival 2016” will feature performances by a number of K-pop stars. For more details about the K-Pop World Festival, please visit its official website at http://kbsworld.kbs.co.kr/kpopfestival/site_2016.

3. Going forward, the Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with leading media outlets and provincial government agencies, will continue to conduct various public diplomacy programs in efforts for Hallyu fans across the world to take keener interest in and better understand diverse aspects of Korean culture.
 

* unofficial translation