Gov't unveils Park Bo-gum photos to promote hanbok worldwide

Park Bo-gum in hanbok, or traditional Korean attire / Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

By Kim Se-jeong

• Published Oct 2, 2025 10:58 AM KST
• Updated Oct 2, 2025 1:46 PM KST

Five photos of actor Park Bo-gum in hanbok (traditional Korean attire) were unveiled Thursday by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Park, who gained global fame with the Netflix series "When Life Gives You Tangerines," has been appointed the government’s hanbok ambassador for 2025.

The newly released images spotlight the elegance of hanbok in both traditional and modern interpretations. In one, Park dons a pale lavender robe embroidered with floral patterns, holding a Hibiscus syriacus — the national flower of Korea — in his hand. Two other photos feature him wearing a "gat" (a traditional Korean hat), which has recently gained popularity thanks to the Netflix animated film "Kpop Demon Hunters."

The photos will go public next Monday through large-scale displays in New York’s Times Square, Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, Tokyo’s Shinjuku district and Citadium Caumartin in Paris. In Seoul, the images will be featured in the popular shopping area of Myeong-dong.

The effort is part of the ministry’s “2025 Hanbok Wave” initiative, which aims to boost global awareness of hanbok and support local artisans.

Since 2021, the ministry, together with the Korea Craft and Design Foundation, has named celebrity hanbok ambassadors each year. Previous figures include actor Kim Tae-ri (2024), actor and singer Suzy (2023), figure skater Kim Yuna (2022) and K-pop groups Brave Girls and DKB (2021).