Actor Park Bo-gum turns palace sounds into new Korean travel experience
Park Bo-gum / Yonhap
Actor Park Bo-gum led a group of roughly 100 international visitors on a soundscape walking tour at Changgyeong Palace earlier this month, spearheading a campaign by cultural authorities to shift tourism promotion toward sensory travel.
Organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism alongside the Korea Tourism Organization, the "Korea Sound Journey" event brought together travelers and content creators selected from more than 2,300 applicants across 20 countries, including the United States, China, Japan and Thailand.
The initiative directly expands on the country's 2026 global advertising campaign, "Begin to Hear Korea," which launched in July. Starring Park — serving his second consecutive year as Korea's honorary tourism ambassador — the promotional series features the actor alongside a Danish musician traveling across the peninsula to record intimate, everyday soundscapes.
During the first half of the day, guided sound specialists led attendees through the palace grounds in small groups for a structured "sound walking" session. Equipped with directional field audio recorders, participants captured subtle acoustic details that often go unnoticed in fast-paced travel itineraries, from the crunch of gravel underfoot to the quiet rustle of leaves against ancient rooflines. Ten global influencers joined the session to film and stream social media content introducing audio-first travel to international audiences.
The afternoon transitioned to Hwigyeomjae, a historic hanok (traditional Korean home) located near the palace grounds. There, visitors gathered for an interactive workshop alongside Park to replay their field recordings, test their ears in sound trivia challenges and hear behind-the-scenes accounts of filming the national promotional campaign.
The event reflects a broader strategic shift in how national destinations market themselves to modern travelers, moving away from conventional photo opportunities and toward deep sensory immersion.
"We designed this initiative so foreign visitors could personally experience the daily warmth and emotions highlighted in our global campaign," said Park Sung-hyeuck, president of the Korea Tourism Organization. "Moving beyond conventional sightseeing, we will continue offering fresh travel experiences that allow visitors to feel, hear and remember the authentic rhythm of everyday life in Korea."
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.