Boosting Popularity of Korean Pavilion

Korea Week draws gangs of visitors to the already one of the most popular pavilions at Shanghai World Expo

The Korean Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo 2010 held the Korea Week from My 26-30 with so many viewers coming by to tour the pavilion since the opening on May 1 featuring all kinds of unique Korean cultural traditions and Korean-style entertainment starring Hallyu stars including Korea singers and movie starts who are popular overseas.
The special week event was kicked off in a ceremony in the morning at the pavilion led by Minister Yu In-chon of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, other government officials, business leaders, and some from the Chinese side led by Deputy Chinese government representative Rue Yonghwa at the Shanghai Expo among some 350 participants at the ceremony.
The weekly national event is one of the events that should be approved by the Shanghai Expo organizing committee just once during the expo for each country that run its own pavilion at the international event.
Korea Investment and Trade Promotion Agency (KOTRA) which manages the Korean Pavilion set the length and the date of the Korea Week and got the approval from the committee, although many countries hold a special national event just for a day usually. KOTRA wanted to attract the greatest number of visitors to the Korean Pavilion possible by holding the national event for a week.
Following the morning ceremony, various performances took place at a performance stage at the expo kicked off with the performance of a traditional classical music band with traditional Korean musical instruments such as stringed instruments, flutes and drums, among others, a traditional dance presentation from the Gyeonggi Province and a fashion show for traditional Korean attires presented by designer Greta Lee.
The center piece of the special event was the Korean Music Festival held in the evening of May 30 at the Culture Center of the Expo divided into two parts. In the first segment, a Korean traditional music band played such well-known Korean traditional songs as Aririrang and Shin-mo-dum and a traditional dance troupe presenting a drum dance, a fan dance, farmer’s dance and a taekwon martial art dance. In the second part, many Hallyu stars joined the stage to perform their unique entertainment numbers, songs or dances, designed to show what Korean youths enjoy at home in terms of entertainment. Hallyu stars performed on the stage included Super Junior, BOA, Kangta, among others and Dongbang Chinese TV telecast the last day’s event on its TV network.
KOTRA said about 670,000 visitors came to the pavilion about 26,000 on daily average up until May 25 since the opening> President and Mrs. Lee Myung-bak attended the opening ceremony on May 1 with a slew of government ministers, business leaders and travelers visiting the Korean pavilion including Minister Choi Kyung-hwan of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Minister Chung Jong-hwan of the Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs, and Chairman Euh Yoon-dae of Korea National Brand Committee and others from the official side and the likes of Chairman Park Yong-hyun of Doosan Group, President Kim Ssang-su of Korea Electric Power Corp., President Kim Joong-kyum of Hyundai Construction, and Chairman Ryu Jin of Poongsan Group and others, altogether 200 from the business community.
Many foreign dignitaries called on the Korean pavilion also led by a number of high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials led by Lee Chiangchun, the No.5 ranked Central Politbureau member, Lee Keochang, the 7th ranked Deputy Premier of the Chinese Communist Party Central Politbureau, who were on hand on the opening day May 1 at the Korean Pavilion. Other foreign dignitaries included Dr. Ibrahim A. Al-Assaf, finance minister of Saudi Arabia, Ali I. Al-Naimi, minister of oil, mineral resources for Saudi Arabia, H.E. Sagr Ghobash, Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sec. Gen. Vincent Gonzalez Loscertales of Bureua International Exhibition, Chairman Wang Junchin of Junyao Group of China and others.
KOTRA said over 650 visits were made by media people to the Korean pavilion for coverage including such global media agencies as AP, CCTV and Xinhua with the pavilion getting good reviews from the media. Some said the pavilion should be recorded in photos and stored for ages as one of the top ten pavilions in the Expo, and “It is the mixture of sciences of both Korea and China,” and “The Korean Pavilion is the Best.”
KOTRA President Cho Hwan-eik said the Korean pavilion has been among the top pavilions at the Expo along with those of Japan, and Saudi Arabia and the Korea Week has boosted its popularity further as one of the most popular pavilions at Expo. nw

(from Left) Minister Yu In-chon, in full Korean traditional attire, holds a bouquet given to him as he arrives at the Korea Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 to participate in the Korea Week event on May 26. A scene from the show of Korean traditional attire during the Korea Week at the Korea Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China. A scene from a performance of Korean traditional music during the Korea Week held at the Korea Pavilion May 26-30.