K-Star Road in Gangnam lures K-pop fans
GangnamDols, a combination of “Gangnam” and “idols,” set up on the K-Star Road in Apgujeong-dong, southern Seoul, are attracting visitors. They were named after 10 popular K-pop bands. / Courtesy of Gangnam District Office
By Lee Kyung-min
The Gangnam District Office in southern Seoul has set up K-Star Road in Apgujeong-dong ― the centerpiece of its long-term project to become the center of K-pop.
The 1-kilometer road features GangnamDols, a combination of the words “Gangnam” and “idols,” named after the 10 most popular K-pop stars ― Miss A, 2PM, 4minute, Super Junior, SHINee, FT Island, TVXQ, EXO, CNBLUE, and Girls’ Generation.
The district office designated the area as a key cultural spot, where Korea’s top entertainment management agencies such as S.M. Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment are located.
The place is most-frequented by avid K-pop fans worldwide who visit Korea in hopes of seeing their idols in person, according to district officials.
“We hope this street becomes a landmark tourist attraction, especially with growing demands from K-pop fans who visit Korea for their concerts. We hope this street helps them have a unique cultural experience in a country of their beloved stars,” a district official said.
“Visitors to the street may want to really see hallyu stars. So we'll hold autograph events regularly. We also offer a leaflet, ‘K-Star Road,' introducing restaurants and shops where hallyu stars often visit," the official said.
The district office plans to set up more GangnamDols after designating a number of areas in addition to the current sites. The likely streets will be Cheongdam-dong and Sinsa-dong.
The term GangnamDol was coined after Psy’s 2012 mega-hit “Gangnam Style.”
Some 850,000 foreigners visited Gangnam in 2012, but the number spiked to 5.11 million in 2013 and 6.11 million in 2014.
The district office aims to attract a growing number of foreign visitors by 2018 by taking advantage of the increased worldwide recognition the area received courtesy of Psy.
For example, cultural events such as concerts and exhibitions are held.
The Gangnam Festival is one such event, which the district office is providing as part of efforts to upgrade its tourism resources.
The district has had a number of small-scale music festivals, but decided to combine them all in order to generate a synergy effect, the official said.
The annual festival is comprised of a fashion festival, a marathon, a global food fest, a period of grand sales and a K-pop concert.
Last year, K-pop boy band JYJ’s two-hour concert highlighted the event.
The venue selection for this year’s event has yet to be finalized, but the district office plans to organize the event to meet the expectation of fans and area residents alike, the official said.
“The Korea entertainment industry is gaining worldwide recognition for its talented performers. The district will help support them by organizing events more frequently where they can interact with fans,” the official said.
Besides the music festivals, many projects are being planned to boost tourism in the district, including setting up tourism promotion department in the area for the first time.
“We plan to further develop cultural content that can accommodate K-pop fan visitors to help them spend a memorable time while staying here,” the official said.
The district’s effort to enrich cultural resources is in line with district head Shin Yeon-hee who has been advocating for development of such cultural content that is in keeping with high-end infrastructure and top quality facilities.
With the 2010 G20 Seoul Summit serving as a great example, the district said other cultural festivals also have had positive effects such as revitalizing Korea's industry and boosting international awareness of Gangnam, thus ultimately raising the country’s profile.
The district office plans to develop Gangnam Street as a Times Square-like entertainment venue, while a feasibility study is underway on how to remodel Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters, into a taekwondo-related cultural park by 2016. The district has yet to start the remodeling.
It also operates a tourism information center in Apgujeong-dong. The center provides translation services in English, Chinese and Japanese.
The center also features displays of K-pop stars’ personal items donated for the yearly bazaar.
Meanwhile, the number of foreign visitors is on the rise. Out of the 14 million foreigners who visited Korea in 2014, 11 million visited Seoul, up 1 million from a year earlier.
Of the Seoul visitors, 6.1 million of them visited Gangnam.