Hallyu Con marks 5 years of growing UK interest in Korean culture
Hallyu Con co-founder Lashai Ben Salmi speaks during the 2025 edition of Hallyu Con at Samsung KX in London, Friday. Courtesy of Jiji Ahn
LONDON — Five years after a small volunteer team first tested the idea of a grassroots K-culture convention in London, Hallyu Con has grown into a yearly reunion for the United Kingdom’s Korean culture community, where fans and creators gather under one roof for a day that now stretches far beyond K-pop into film, food, fashion and frank conversations about representation.
Hosted at Samsung KX in London, Friday, with support from the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) and the Korea Tourism Organisation UK, the 2025 edition carried the theme “Past, Present, Future,” capturing both the evolution of U.K. hallyu (Korean wave) fandom and the organizers’ aspirations for the years ahead.
While more compact than previous editions due to a change in dates, the event delivered a warm celebration of Korean culture, underscored by a committed and growing community.
K-pop albums are on display during Hallyu Con 2025 at Samsung KX in London, Friday. Courtesy of Jiji Ahn
Community rooted in cultural exchange
Hallyu Con co-founder Lashai Ben Salmi reflected on the meaning of the five-year milestone.
“It’s really exciting, mainly for the community,” she told The Korea Times, describing Hallyu Con as “a melting pot of different cultures connecting,” drawn together by Korean food, literature, fashion, media and music.
She emphasised that Hallyu Con was built as “a safe, immersive space for people to learn, exchange and explore the richness of Korean culture,” a principle that continues to shape its identity.
Long-time organizer and event manager Mellica Alexander noted that the project remains “purely for the love of K-culture,” underscoring how deeply volunteer-driven the initiative continues to be.
Returning fans and newcomers
What came through most clearly in the conversations was that people keep coming back because the event makes them feel like part of something.
Many attendees were returning visitors. One woman, a regular at Hallyu Con, shared that although it was her daughter who introduced her to K-dramas, she herself is now more invested in Korean culture.
“I keep coming back, it feels like a community,” she said.
A first-time attendee who first encountered K-pop at secondary school said she hoped to see a greater focus on acting as a craft, beyond the mainstream films and dramas most people already know. She added that she would like to see traditional arts, and other Korean takes on musical R&B and jazz highlighted in future editions, believing there is “more potential ahead” for Korean culture in the U.K.
A volunteer, who has supported Hallyu Con for three years after discovering Korean culture shortly after moving to the U.K. a decade ago, shared that they’ve found new friends and a sense of belonging through the event.
A Hangeul (Korean alphabet) calligraphy station offers personalized bookmarks at Hallyu Con 2025 at Samsung KX in London, Friday. Courtesy of Hallyu Con
Compact layout
This year’s layout was intimate, with sponsor booths positioned around the main stage. At times the space felt emptier than usual, and the compact format meant some attendees were unsure of where to go next.
Still, volunteers maintained a warm, lively atmosphere and a range of sponsor activations added texture to the day.
PURESEOUL offered color analysis and skincare demonstrations, while K-Pop K-Corner displayed K-pop albums and merchandise. Brands such as BITA, Jongga and Bibigo introduced Korean flavors through samples and snacks, while KCCUK provided a VR experience alongside Samsung’s driving-simulator activity. Cultural touches, including a corner where visitors could try on hanbok (traditional Korean attire) and a Hangeul (Korean alphabet) calligraphy station for creating personalized bookmarks, added to the experience for visitors of all ages.
Korean Cultural Centre UK director Sun Seung-hye speaks during Hallyu Con 2025 at Samsung KX in London, Friday. Courtesy of Hallyu Con
K-Fashion and emerging creators
Among new vendors, EastBlue stood out for offering a fresh take on East Asian fashion in the U.K. Founder Edmund Tupas personally sources clothing from Korean streetwear brands and using the same designs worn by K-pop idols, curating the brand as if building his own wardrobe. The company is not an official partner of any brand, and each item is hand-selected and sold with only a slight mark-up. His previous pop-ups at Hyper Japan and MCM Comic Con helped refine his approach.
“I hope people who aren’t aware of Korean streetwear become even a little more aware,” Tupas said, noting its blend of East Asian aesthetics and Western silhouettes.
Creators KoreanBilly, Mikey Espinosa, RollinJoint and Hanguk Hapa take part in Hallyu Con 2025 at Samsung KX in London, Friday. Courtesy of Hallyu Con
Panels anchor the day
Panels formed the backbone of Hallyu Con 2025 and shaped much of the day’s momentum.
Proceedings opened with PURESEOUL’s skincare presentation, which drew strong interest from younger attendees. This was followed by a discussion with YouTubers ARMAX on content creation and their personal journeys with Korean cuisine. A multi-creator panel featuring KoreanBilly, Mikey Espinosa, RollinJoint and Hanguk Hapa then explored lifestyle, food, comedy and cross-cultural work within the U.K.’s growing hallyu scene.
A later session brought together speakers from an East and Southeast Asian film organization, BuzzFeed and a former Head of the BBC’s Korean Service, shifting the tone into more reflective territory. The conversation examined how global interest in Korean culture has opened doors across creative industries while also exposing the pressures and structural challenges that accompany them. This candid exploration of both opportunity and reality offered some of the day’s most meaningful insights.
RITO, a contemporary music collective blending traditional Korean instrumentation with modern electronics, closed the event. Their work incorporates the piri, a traditional Korean double-reed flute, and traditional percussion alongside live electronic elements, reinterpreting Korean music in a modern context.
Looking ahead
This year’s Hallyu Con shows that the event has succeeded in building a loyal, diverse community — and interest exceeds the current scale of the event.
Its strengths lie in sincerity, passion and the ability to convene audiences who feel deeply connected to Korean culture. But this year also demonstrated a desire for more space, more variety, more structure and more expansive representation of both traditional and contemporary Korean culture.
As Ben Salmi put it, the aim is to “inspire curiosity and continue to build bridges” within and beyond Korean culture.