Korea appoints 2,800 global content creators to promote culture, tourism

K-Influencers and Honorary Reporters participate in a ceremony in Seoul officially launching their campaign for this year, Tuesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism appointed nearly 2,800 foreign content creators to promote Korean culture abroad through videos and articles.

During a ceremony in Seoul on Tuesday, the ministry marked the official launch of their 2025 campaign by recognizing 1,303 YouTubers as K-Influencers and 1,498 writers as Honorary Reporters, together representing almost 100 countries.

“They will serve as messengers, connecting Korea to the world,” a ministry official said. “These YouTubers and writers have already proven their passion and dedication. We look forward to working closely with them and helping them gain a deeper understanding of Korean culture.”

The Honorary Reporter program, which began 15 years ago, produced over 7,000 reports last year alone, with 1,325 articles published on Korea.net, a government-run website promoting Korea in 10 languages.

Longtime participants Salwa Elzeny Mostafa Mohamed and Esraa Elzeny Mostafa Mohamed, both from Egypt, have been part of the program for 11 years, and were recognized for their outstanding contributions.

The K-Influencer program is more recent and was launched in 2020. Since its inception, influencers have created nearly 20,000 pieces of content featuring Korea’s tourism, cuisine and cultural heritage and uploaded them to their YouTube channels.

Among this year’s newly appointed K-Influencers are Pragati Verma, a YouTuber from India with 24 million subscribers, and Paola Valencia from Mexico, a content creator with a passion for K-pop.

To support these ambassadors, the ministry will provide monthly content topics and organize cultural workshops to help creators produce more insightful and engaging contents.

This initiative is part of the government’s broader efforts to raise Korea’s global profile as a cultural powerhouse, riding the wave of growing international interest in Korean films, dramas, K-pop and traditional arts.

Beyond content creation programs, the ministry is expanding its Touring K-Arts program this year, which connects Korean cultural and arts organizations with Korean Cultural Centers abroad.

This year, 41 touring programs have been scheduled, including 15 performances, 11 exhibitions and 15 educational workshops covering a diverse range of topics from contemporary dance to Korean cuisine.

Additionally, the ministry operates the Friends of Korea campaign, which aims to correct misinformation about Korea online.