The Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) will release a new tourism promotional video on July 15, with the participation of famous actor Park Bo Gum.
This promotional work is produced in the format of a short film instead of a traditional advertising video. This will be the opening product for the travel organization's 2026 global campaign called "Begin to hear Korea".
Actor Park Bo Gum, who is holding the position of honorary tourism ambassador of Korea for the second consecutive year, previously appeared in last year's campaign to explore many different regions of the country.
In this year's film, he plays a "music director" traveling throughout Korea with Danish musician Ki, collecting everyday sounds and turning them into a single piece of music.
Instead of just focusing on sightseeing, this campaign is built around listening, towards what the travel organization describes as a completely immersive experience by hearing.
This campaign captures a travel trend called "dailycation" - a combination of "daily" and "vacation" - describing tourists who want to experience simple local life rather than ordinary tourism activities.
The video brings sounds that may be unfamiliar to foreign tourists but are extremely typical of Korea, such as the announcement music at the subway station, the bustling atmosphere of a traditional market and the sound of wind chimes hanging under the eaves of an ancient hanok house.
The full video will be premiered for the first time on July 15 on the official YouTube channel of the travel organization, VisitKorea.
Previously, a short video (teaser) introducing the main characters was released on July 10. This organization plans to expand video distribution to streaming platforms, smart TVs and airplane entertainment systems.
Especially in October, Korea Tourism Organization will implement an interactive program called "Korea sound journey" for about 100 foreign tourists.
The program includes a sound exploration walk in Seoul and a live chat with actor Park Bo Gum. Lucky participants will be randomly selected from a group of audiences who correctly answer the sound quiz called "Park Bo Gum sound quiz" on VisitKorea channel starting from July 15.
Mr. Park Sung Hyeuck, Chairman of Korea Tourism Organization, said in a statement that this year's campaign is a new effort to expand tourism to Korea, from what tourists only see with their eyes to experiences through sound.
The organizers designed this program so that experiencing everyday life and the vibrations of Korea through sound in a single film can lead to a reality trip to Korea, motivated by the desire to hear those sounds with your own ears and see those places with your own eyes.
