A hundred events will add to the joy of traveling around Korea and create a space where tourists and local citizens can mingle so that visitors to Korea from all around the world can fully enjoy the charm of K-culture. To fulfill the national goal of “Happiness for the Korean People through Travel, Growth for Korea through Tourism,” the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), in partnership with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), designated 2023-2024 Visit Korea Year. As part of this effort, the MCST and KTO selected K-Culture Tourism Event 100 to invite foreign tourists to enjoy fascinating K-culture in diverse spheres, such as culture, arts, content, sports, games, food and architecture. One hundred places to visit also named as “100 K-CHARMS” is the list of places foreigners can visit and experience Korean culture, under the sub-themes of Creative culture, Healing power, Artistic excellence, Rich heritage, Music festivals, and Sports.

Creative culture includes games, performing stages, and events like Busan International Film Festivals. Healing power refers to places where people can enjoy wellness tourism such as temple stay. Artistic excellence is the theme which introduces enhanced Korean art markets through KIAF and Frieze Art Fair. Rich heritages will lead tourists to places with full of traditional richness like The Gangneung Danoje Festival. Music Festivals include The Jarasum Jazz Festival and Seoul Music Festival. In less than one year, Gangwon province will host another edition of Olympic Games for youth from January 19. Sports category will introduce tourists to international sporting events where, visitors not only experience sports but also culture.

Minister PARK Bo Gyoon said, “Starting this year, we will set the stage, for localities from Seoul to local cities, all year round, to provide an opportunity for visitors to experience K-culture. We will support the development of appealing tourism products that combine K-culture and tourism and use K-culture outposts around the world, such as overseas Korean Cultural Centers, KTO’s overseas offices and King Sejong Institutes, to promote Visit Korea Year intensively and widely to ensure traveling to Korea makes it onto the bucket lists of people around the world.” He also added, “2023 Visit Korea Year will the first year for Korea to leap toward a tourism powerhouse.”

To look further into the events for each categories, major large-scale events include spring picnic-themed K-food, beauty and the Korean wave festival Seoul Festa 2023 and world-renowned garden fair Suncheonman International Garden Expo. Arts events FRIEZE & Kiaf Seoul will welcome visitors who can discover first-hand the charm of K-art while Gwangju Biennale will appeal to visitors with works by the masters of contemporary art. Major cultural events include Korea’s largest K-stage tour festival Welcome Daehakro, street art event Gwangju Fringe Festival, and Asia’s biggest movie festival and Korea’s singular film market Busan International Film Festival. In addition, such global sporting events as global game exhibition G-STAR, the world’s largest E-sport competition League of Legend World Championship, 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championship and Gangwon 2024 Youth Winter Olympic Games will also be taking place.

The list continues with K-Pop and music festivals INK Concert, Gangnam Festival and Jarasum International Jazz Festival, and flower festivals Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Marathon, Jinhae Gunhangje Festival and Seogwipo Canola Flower International Walking Festival. Other events awaiting visitors from all around the world are first-hand ecological and historical event DMZ RUN, hiking race against the backdrop of the “Yeongnam Alps” Ulju Nine Peaks Stage Race, and science and culture fusion expo Daejeon Science Festival. There are local produce festivals, such as Yeongdong Grape Festival and Nonsan Strawberry Festival, the local cultural and art event Fantasia Daegu Festival, and the sporting event for amateur athletes from around the world Asia-Pacific Masters Game 2023 Jeonbuk Korea.

The K-Culture Tourism Event 100 list was selected through the initial requirement-screening process and the final review committee meeting after receiving candidate submissions from 17 local governments and experts in each area of culture, arts, sports, tourism, and content.

In a bid to promote the 100 K-cultural events actively and globally, the Ministry and KTO plan to organize experience events in association with K-roadshows in major cities worldwide and develop Korean tourism products in partnership with local tourism industry partners overseas. In addition, they will provide detailed information in multiple languages via the official tourism website of Korea (www. visitkorea.or.kr) and continue to launch campaigns at home to welcome foreign tourists to Korea.