“K-Pop World Festival” completed in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, June 22: With the aim of entertaining Korean pop music lovers and making them feel the modern culture of Korea, the ‘K-Pop World Festival’ organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Nepal was held today at the Nepal Pragya Academy in Kamaladi.

Since 2016, the Korean Embassy in Nepal has been organizing K-Pop regional preliminary stage programs targeting the ‘K-Pop World Festival’ which has been held in Changwon, South Korea since 2011.

Park Tae-Yong, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nepal, who was the chief guest at the ceremony in Nepal, during his welcome speech, said that on the occasion of the 50th golden jubilee of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, people-to-people relations between Korea and Nepal are being strengthened through K-pop as well as Korean language and culture.

He said, “There is a unique harmony among Nepali people towards Korean culture. There is not only K-Pop but also a great passion for language, drama and food. Considering the goodwill towards Korea, respect for the Korean language and culture, the embassy is planning to continue various cultural programs for more cultural exchange and people-to-people relations.

He wished the Nepali team to participate in the final competition in Changwon, Korea. This year, the preliminary stage selection process was organized online from 23rd May to 9th June. Where more than 30 teams participated in the competition by sending audio visuals of singing and dancing prepared to Korean pop music of their choice. Among them, twelve selected teams, including dance group, solo dance, and singing, gave their performances at the festival held today.

Among them, Arelia Group was chosen for group dance, Anjali Nepali for singing and Samrat Sunuwar for solo dance. Audio visuals of the shortlisted candidates will be sent to Korea for final evaluation. Those who are selected from the mentioned three will be able to compete in the ‘K-Pop World Festival’ in Korea.

Recently, in 2016, a dance group named Mongolian Namja from Nepal got the opportunity to represent Nepal at the festival. It is said that South Korea is giving Nepali artists an opportunity to participate in this kind of program, giving importance to the attraction of Korean pop among Nepali youth.

With the recent increase in people-to-people contact between Nepal and South Korea, this kind of cultural program has taken an important place and will help to strengthen the relationship between the two countries, the embassy said.