For KOFICE chief, MyK FESTA goes beyond K-pop

Park Chang-sik, president of the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE), speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the foundation's headquarters in Mapo District, western Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of KOFICE

For Park Chang-sik, president of the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE), a public institution under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism tasked with promoting two-way cultural exchange between Korea and the world, the 2026 MyK FESTA is not just a concert. It's an experiment in turning the K-pop fandom into a sustainable, two-way cultural economy.

Now in its second year, MyK FESTA is a four-day K-culture festival combining K-pop concerts, business showcases and exhibitions, running from June 25-28 at KINTEX and SONO Calm GOYANG in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

Organized by KOFICE and hosted by the culture ministry, the event brings together top K-pop acts, hundreds of Korean lifestyle and content companies and international buyers under one roof, free of charge.

Visitors browse corporate booths at MyK FESTA at Olympic Park in Seoul, June 19, 2025. The four-day festival, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE), drew K-pop fans, content creators and international buyers for a mix of concerts, panel discussions and business networking. Courtesy of KOFICE

"This is the second year, and the scale has grown considerably compared to last year. The number of buyers, participating artists, B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) partners has all expanded significantly," Park said in an interview with The Korea Times at the foundation's headquarters in Mapo District, Seoul on Tuesday, explaining why KOFICE moved the event from Olympic Park to KINTEX.

The new venue, he said, was designed so visitors can naturally pass through both the concert stages and the exhibition halls.

"Last time, the venues were spread apart and that created real inconvenience. We wanted to remove that this time."

Behind the move lies a broader ambition.

"Since many international attendees are devoted K-pop fans, there needs to be continuity, and the industries connected to K-pop must grow alongside it," Park said.

"This shouldn't be something people only experience by listening and watching. They should come, enjoy themselves, look around and leave with something more."

Fans cheer inside the KSPO Dome during a K-pop concert at MyK FESTA, June 19, 2025, in Seoul's Songpa District. Courtesy of Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange

That philosophy shaped the festival's toughest design challenge: aligning the B2B and B2C programs with K-pop's drawing power.

"Visitors who come for the concerts need to discover, along the way, that there are also products and brands worth exploring," he said, noting that the event aims to connect ticket buyers with the roughly 100 Korean companies selected for this year's showcase.

He called the event "a way to grow the economy alongside K-pop," tying it to the government's push to expand the cultural industry's output from 200 trillion won ($130 billion) to 300 trillion won.

"We don't even charge admission," he noted. "The point is to help the industries that develop around K-pop grow together with it."

Securing top-tier K-pop lineups is one of the logistical challenges, Park said, along with rising airfare amid recent oil price swings.

Still, he expects the concerts alone to draw more than 30,000 attendees, with shuttle buses linked to the subway and tour packages connecting Seoul's sightseeing spots.

"We're treating this as a comprehensive festival, not just two nights of concerts," he said.

Park Chang-sik, president of the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE), speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the foundation's headquarters, Mapo District, western Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of KOFICE

Looking further ahead, Park argued that the K-pop ecosystem needs new infrastructure beyond the festival itself.

"Everyone wants to become the next BTS, but that's simply not possible for everyone," the president said, pointing to the thousands of trainees who never get to step on stage. "What we need are mid-sized venues in rural cities like Gyeongju, Busan and even Jeju, so the next generation has somewhere to perform, rather than being limited to major entertainment labels."

Park framed his own role as a cultural diplomat rather than an event planner. "Culture has no hierarchy," he said. "What matters most is relationships between people, and between nations."

His goal, he added, is for Korea to be recognized abroad not as a "cultural powerhouse," but as a "cultural leader," one that fosters lasting cultural exchange with other countries rather than competes against them.

"If we get this right, this becomes the way people remember Korea, not for one summer, but for years to come," Park said.