Park Jin-young, chair of the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange, said he expects the new government-led festival, Fanomenon, to bring more benefits than drawbacks.
On the 27th, a press briefing on the 2027 Fanomenon implementation plan was held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul in Samcheong-dong, Jongno District, Seoul. Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young and Park Jin-young, chair of the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange, attended the event.
The music division of the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange is promoting the Fanomenon event with four companies: HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP, and YG Entertainment. The four entertainment companies have also established a joint venture to host a global K-pop festival. The new joint venture was created as a cooperative model to explore the potential for expanding K-culture, including K-pop, in the global market.
At the event, Park said, “The current K-pop market should be seen as a fandom industry. If Korea becomes the leader in this industry, it becomes the leader of an entire sector.” He added, “I believe this event will allow Korea’s influence to last for a long time. It will be a great opportunity, not something that harms K-pop culture.”
“Fanomenon” aims to promote the global co-growth of K-culture and attract more foreign visitors to Korea, while encouraging repeat visits, by staging a large-scale K-culture festival that brings together the diverse strengths of different K-culture fields.
The event is scheduled to take place at Seoul Arena in Chang-dong and KINTEX Exhibition Hall 2 in Ilsan New Town, Goyang. Seoul Arena will host concerts, awards ceremonies, and exhibitions of nominees by category, while KINTEX will feature a music festival, as well as K-culture company exhibitions and hands-on experiences. The event will run for a total of 11 days, with the goal of maintaining a festival atmosphere throughout.
According to Park, the awards ceremony will select the fandom that was the hottest that year. The top fandom among the top 10 will receive the award on site, and the artist will accept it on their behalf.
Park said, “We will prepare this based on detailed data on fandoms so that everyone can agree with it.” He added, “What matters most is bringing many companies together and creating synergy.” He continued, “There may be concerns about quantifying fandoms, but actors also hold award ceremonies after working on a project. Just as major award shows have now become part of the culture, I am confident that Fanomenon will also settle in over time and bring more positive effects than negative ones.”
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
