First lady promotes K-pop in India

Korea's first lady Kim Jung-sook, center, poses for a selfie with a participant of the annual K-pop contest “Changwon K-pop World Festival” held in the Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi, Tuesday. Kim is accompanying Korean President Moon Jae-in on his four-day state visit to India from Sunday. / Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

First lady Kim Jung-sook visited a K-pop contest in New Delhi, India, while accompanying President Moon Jae-in on a state visit to the country, Monday (local time).

Kim participated in the final round of the Changwon K-pop World Festival at the Siri Fort Auditorium to congratulate its winners. The event is the only K-pop contest organized by the Korean Cultural Center in India, held every year since 2012. The event attracted 1,215 participants on 523 teams while 22 teams made it to the final round. Kim visited the venue accompanied by India's culture minister, receiving a scarf and flower for gifts while exchanging greetings with local K-pop fans.

Kim said India's food and movies are popular in Korea, as is K-pop in India, according to a press release, emphasizing that culture could bridge the peoples of the two countries.

Kim also watched performances of the contest participants and K-pop group Snuper.

After the announcement of the contest winners, Kim stepped onto the stage to give them a pep talk and take a group photo. Kim also sang K-pop group BigBang's “Sunset Glow” together with 1,800 audience members while dancing on the stage after a request by the winners.

Before attending the music event, Kim toured Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi, Monday, following a visit to Akshardham Temple on Sunday, to further understand Indian culture, said a Cheong Wa Dae official.

“I see (the tomb) with devotion,” Kim said after being told about the history of the UNESCO World Heritage complex there. “It is great to see tradition continue without being destroyed.”

Earlier, Moon also highlighted India's cultural contribution saying Bollywood, Yoga, Nobel laureates and meditation paved the way in world history. Moon also revealed his daughter is a yoga instructor in Korea while saying Indian movies like “Three Idiots” and “Dangal” have garnered huge popularity in Korea.

Before heading to India, the first lady participated in the screening of Bollywood film “Dangal” in Seoul on July 4, with 15 students studying in Korea. After watching the movie, Kim said, “Our state visit to India next week will focus on some of the values our two countries cherish, such as economic cooperation, human rights and protecting the environment. At this time, we hope to further solidify our partnership and boost our bilateral trade and investments.”

Moon and Kim arrived in New Delhi, India, on Sunday for a four-day state visit for the first time in his presidency.