Global appeal: NewJeans members (from left) Hanni, Haerin, Danielle and Minji posing for photos during the appointment ceremony of the 2024 Korea Tourism Honorary Ambassador in Seoul. — AFP
The nation appointed K-pop girl band NewJeans “honorary ambassadors” as part of a drive to promote tourism, joining a long list of Korean celebrities to take up the role.
South Korea has seen tourism figures recover to nearly pre-pandemic levels this year, with around a third of visitors citing K-pop or K-drama – the so-called “Hallyu” or Korean wave – as a major motive for travelling to the East Asian country.
“We are very happy to be appointed as an ambassador to promote South Korean tourism today,” band member Minji said on Thursday, adding it would be a “great joy” for the supergroup to promote their country’s charms.
Tourist arrivals are at “about 90% of pre-pandemic levels,” said culture minister Yu In-chon.
“With NewJeans as tourism ambassadors, I expect even more people from all over the world to visit Korea,” he added.
The group will serve as ambassadors with no actual diplomatic responsibilities for a year, succeeding previous representatives such as Squid Game star and Emmy-winner Lee Jung-jae and K-pop megastars BTS.
Members of the band shared their personal recommendations for visitors, including eating “gimbap dipped in tteokbokki sauce” and taking “a photo a day”, which is an “unspoken rule among young Korean generations”.
Haerin said she recommended tourists to visit a hanok – or traditional Korean house – while Hanni urged visitors to embrace Korean cuisine.
“You have to eat Korean food when you come to Korea, and since it’s summer, if you eat food like samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) or mul-naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles), you’ll be able to enjoy it a lot,” she said.
More than 11 million tourists visited South Korea last year, a 245% increase compared to 2022, when some pandemic restrictions were still in force.
Chinese and Japanese tourists made up the majority of the visitors. — AFP
