▲ This photo, provided by the Korean Cultural Center in Osaka, shows the poster for the upcoming K-pop festival. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, Apr. 3 (Yonhap) -- Japanese K-pop fans are expecting a new K-pop festival to be held in Osaka, where the Korean showbiz industry, often called the Korean Wave or Hallyu, landed and hit with a big impact.

Piggybacking on the global popularity of Korean culture, the Korean Cultural Center in Osaka will organize and carry out a participatory cultural festival, the Center confirmed Monday. This forthcoming festival, titled the “2023 K-pop Challenge Osaka,” aims to promote K-pop and other Korean cultural content at the Dojima River Forum on Apr. 23

Hosted by the Japanese pop culture journalist Masayuki Furuya, the festival will feature a slew of Korean-related quiz competitions, K-pop-related quiz competitions, and K-pop random play dances, while focusing on the performances of local K-pop cover dance troupes.

The festival will also have booths ready where Japanese K-culture fans can put on K-pop idol makeup, make najeon crafts and Korean handmade stamps, and get tattoos and nail stickers, along with booths where they can make giant yan bags, handmade soaps, and Korean cups.

There will also be a BTS-themed photo zone along with a photo zone covered all in pink and another zone that would look like they are standing in the center of a mini stage. Alongside, Korean promotional booths will also be set up in cooperation with related organizations stationed in Japan.

In the meantime, local governments, such as Busan Metropolitan City, South Jeolla Province, and Jeju Island, as well as the Korean Tourism Organization, will also make an appearance at the festival to promote each city’s tourist spots, particularly the city of Busan as the next destination for the upcoming World Expo.

“The festival will serve as a venue inviting Japanese teenagers and K-pop fans, who will act as the key to the next-generation K-culture boom,” said the Center’s director Jeong Tae-gu.

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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