Starting with “Midday Concert (Korean Traditional Orchestra × Blues)” on April 13, five K-Culture experience programs to be held for foreigners in Korea

Foreigners living in Korea, including resident foreign journalists and diplomatic envoys, can enjoy the taste, style, and relaxation of K-culture through Korean food, K-performances, and virtual stage experiences with their five senses.

The Korean Culture and Information Service (Director KIM Jang Ho, KOCIS) and the Korea International Broadcasting Foundation (KIBF, Arirang TV) will present the “K-Culture Sensory Satisfaction: Taste, Style and Relaxation” program five times this year, starting from April 13 (Thur), to provide a wide range of K-Culture experiences for foreigners living in Korea.

 Reorganized as “K-Culture Sensory Satisfaction: Taste, Style, and Relaxation” by Combining Performances with Gastronomy and Experiential Activities

KOCIS has been promoting “Hello, Mr. K!” for foreigners living in Korea since 2015, combining various genres from K-Pop to traditional music. This year, the program has been reorganized as “Sensory Satisfaction K-Culture: Taste, Style, and Relaxation,” incorporating gastronomic and experiential activities to enable a more diverse K-Culture experience than just watching performances. It includes the appreciation of Korean “taste” experiences through food, “style” through performances, and “relaxation” through experiencing the beauty of architecture and nature.

As the first event in the series, 80 people, including foreign journalists and honorary reporters[1] of Korea.net, attended the “Midday Concert” at the National Theater of Korea (NTOK), the national representative performance hall, on April 13 (Thur). The “Midday Concert” is a program in which the National Orchestra of Korea (NOK) has collaborated with celebrities from various genres since 2019. Even though it is a weekday noon show, the Haeoreum Theater’s 1,221 seats are nearly full every time, attesting to the program’s popularity. In this performance, KANG HUH Dallim, the blues diva, appeared as the “Star of Midday” and perform “OK Blues,” “Waiting, Fluttering,” and “Hold Me Tight,” adapted for traditional Korean instruments.

Attendees first watched the “Midday Concert” and then have an interview with YEO Mi Sun, a collaborator in this performance and artistic director of the NOK, to gain a better understanding of the traditional orchestra. Afterward, the attendees enjoyed Korean lunchboxes while taking in the scenic views of Namsan Mountain and participating in various virtual reality (VR) activities such as becoming the main character of a “Moving Poster” or trying stage makeup and costumes at the NTOK’s Immersive Studio ‘Byeolbyeol’ (VR Experience Zone), which opened on March 6 (Mon).

KOCIS plans to conduct four more K-Culture experience programs until November for different target groups, including international students, embassy and international organization employees, foreign professors, and US military personnel at places where the attendees can enjoy the taste, style, and relaxation of Korea, such as the Korea House and the Seoul K Medi Center.

KOCIS Director KIM Jang Ho said, “I hope that with this reorganized program, foreigners living in Korea can have a vivid and meaningful K-Culture experience and share their positive experiences of Korea when they return to their home countries.”