-
Stray Kids is one of the more popular K-pop bands, with 34 million social-network followers globally
-
It recently won the Korea boy-band competition TV series in Kingdom-Legendary War
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency or KOTRA has appointed K-pop band Stray Kids as the ambassador of the Korea Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, said local reports on Thursday, June 24.
Stray Kids is reportedly one of the more popular K-pop bands, with 34 million social-network followers globally. It recently won the Korea boy-band competition TV series in Kingdom-Legendary War.
This appears to be the latest effort by South Korea to use soft diplomacy and cultural economy to boost the country overall.
With boy-bands like Bangtan Boys or BTS and girl-bands like Blackpink at the forefront, the entire K-pop industry is considered one of the greatest exports of South Korea at the moment.
In fact, market-research organizations estimated that the industry’s export value in 2018 stood at $564.2 million.
Even otherwise, Hallyu — Chinese word meaning Korean Wave and denoting the cultural economic outreach from South Korea — had added $12.3 billion to South Korea’s GDP in 2019.
As for the Korea Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, it will reportedly be located in the Mobility District of the exposition, and have the theme Smart Korea, Moving The World To You.
