Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light, though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lightning they, do not go gentle into that good night.
Cheonan emerges as hot spot for Korean culture
Korean traditional musicians and dancers perform during a closing ceremony for the Cheonan K-Culture Expo 2025 with MyK FESTA at the Independence Hall of Korea in South Chungcheong Province, Sunday. Courtesy of Cheonan City
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Cheonan K-Culture Expo wraps up with tens of thousands of visitors
The Cheonan K-Culture Expo 2025 with MyK FESTA has wrapped up after welcoming tens of thousands of visitors.
Held at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, the five-day event ran from Wednesday through Sunday under the theme of “Global K-Culture in Full Bloom,” offering a dynamic combination of music, fashion, food, beauty and education.
According to a Cheonan City official on Monday, the festival was the largest ever, and attracted more than 350,000 visitors from both home and abroad. It was the third year the expo was held since its launch in 2023.
For the event’s opening ceremony on Wednesday, high-profile pop stars such as Sung Si-kyung, Lee Mu-jin, H1-Key and BEATPELLA HOUSE performed at the venue’s main stage with some 10,000 spectators.
“The expo boosts the country’s status as a global powerhouse in culture,” South Chungcheong Province Governor Kim Tae-heum said during the opening ceremony.
Culture, Sports and Tourism Vice Minister Yong Ho-seong and Independence Hall of Korea President Kim Hyoung-suk also joined the first day’s headline event with Kim.
Top diplomats from various countries, including Angola, Belarus, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nigeria and Uzbekistan, also attended the ceremony.
"There is growing interest in K-beauty linked to Korean content even in Belarus," Belarus Ambassador to Korea Andrew Chernetsky said.
Students perform for Korea's Memorial Day during the fourth day of the Cheonan K-Culture Expo 2025 with MyK FESTA at the Independence Hall of Korea in South Chungcheong Province, Saturday. Courtesy of Cheonan City
In addition to the opening ceremony, it offered a variety of performances for people of all ages to enjoy. It featured an original soundtrack music show, a retro music performance for older adults and a live broadcast of the radio show “Wendy’s Young Street.” The musical “Catch! Teenieping” was also performed for children.
For this year’s event, the city decided to expand from five exhibition halls to seven. They featured artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), interactive content and extended reality (XR) focused-halls to strengthen visitors’ immersion. They showcased digital content related to food, webtoons, beauty and Hangeul (the Korean alphabet) as well as visual and game content.
In the Hangeul Pavilion, visitors were able to experience an exploratory journey into the history, artistry and future potential of the Korean alphabet via immersive media and woodblock printing.
The K-Food Pavilion operated cooking workshops, offered traditional and modern dishes and provided pop-up booths for local restaurants in Cheonan. The K-Beauty Pavilion featured AI‑driven skin‑care kiosks where visitors received personalized recommendations.
In the Webtoon & Gaming Halls, visitors could experience cartoon‑creation tools that generated visuals from text prompts while offering an AR gaming zone using AI and XR technologies, as well as a board game zone and an experience booth for indie games and 3D character modeling.
Foreign musicians perform during the final day of the Cheonan K-Culture Expo 2025 with MyK FESTA at the Independence Hall of Korea in South Chungcheong Province, Sunday. Courtesy of Cheonan City
The event also provided activities at some 50 venue booths, including a pop music dance stage and street karaoke. Visitors could also play a wide range of traditional games, such as yunnori.
Cheonan named lyricist Park No-a, this year’s Miss Hanbok Contest winner Lee Hee-bin and Naver Webcomic artist Grimzo as this year’s Cheonan K-Culture Expo honorary ambassadors.
The Independence Hall of Korea opened at night with various attractions including a 1,000-drone aerial light show by the venue’s main stage.
The festival closed with TV personality Tak Jae-hun’s “No Back" talk show.
Acting Cheonan City Mayor Kim Seok-pil speaks during the closing ceremony for the Cheonan K-Culture Expo 2025 with MyK FESTA at the Independence Hall of Korea in South Chungcheong Province, Sunday. Courtesy of Cheonan City
“The Cheonan K-Culture Expo was a perfect gateway to introduce the country's wide range of in-depth cultural characteristics to the world,” acting Cheonan City Mayor Kim Seok-pil said during the closing ceremony Sunday.
“Cheonan will continuously carry out its role as Korea’s cultural hub and platform.”