'K-culture Pop-up' opens at The Hyundai Seoul

For two weeks, anyone can visit the hottest department store in Seoul and shop for the most popular K-culture products, all of which are neatly organized on one floor. “K-culture Pop-up” kicked off Thursday at The Hyundai Seoul in Yeongdeungpo...

From left: The Hyundai Seoul's senior managing director Kim Chang-sub, the Korea Tourism Organization's CEO Kim Jang-sil, second vice minister of culture, sports and tourism Jang Mi-ran and Hyundai Department Store's CEO Kim Hyung-jong pose during the opening of “K-culture Pop-up″ at The Hyundai Seoul in western Seoul on Thursday. [YONHAP]

For two weeks, anyone can visit the hottest department store in Seoul and shop for the most popular K-culture products, all of which are neatly organized on one floor.

“K-culture Pop-up” kicked off Thursday at The Hyundai Seoul in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul. Scattered throughout the second basement floor of The Hyundai Seoul are several pop-up stores selling products across a variety of Korean themes, including K-pop, art, fashion, food, cosmetics and even heritage.

The event, hosted and organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and the Hyundai Department Store Group, is one of the many programs to promote Visit Korea Year 2023-2024. The KTO is set to promulgate K-culture through programs like travel packages, promotional campaigns and K-pop concerts for a two-year period to boost the number of visitors into the country.

Merchandise on view at the ″K-culture Pop-up″ event at The Hyundai Seoul in western Seoul [SHIN MIN-HEE]

“I’ve always been fascinated by how trends set by the Korean MZ Generation [those in their 20s and 30s] affect the foreigners' consumer trends as well,” Jang Mi-ran, the second vice minister of culture, sports and tourism, said. Jang attended the pop-up's opening event on Thursday morning, accompanied by the KTO’s CEO Kim Jang-sil and Hyundai Department Store CEO Kim Hyung-jong.

“The Hyundai Seoul is the perfect hotspot for young people,” she continued. “I hope that this event serves as an opportunity for them to visit Korea not just once, but again and again to have an enjoyable experience with friends and family.”

Out of The Hyundai Seoul's 80 million visitors over the past two years, 50 million of them are in their 30s or younger. Over half of its overseas customers are the MZ Generation, the department store said.

The pop-up stores include merchandise from the National Museum of Korea, such as the popular Pensive Bodhisattva miniature statues that come in an array of colors. They became a fan favorite after BTS’s RM revealed in 2022 that he owns at least two.

Merchandise on view at the ″K-culture Pop-up″ event at The Hyundai Seoul in western Seoul [SHIN MIN-HEE]

One K-pop pop-up store is themed after rookie boy band ZeroBaseOne (also known as ZB1), which debuted last month and comprises the nine finalists of Mnet’s audition program “Boys Planet.”

Visitors will also be able to taste corndogs from Two Hands, a Korean corndog franchise that has ironically become a hit in the United States, opening over 90 stores, and makgeolli (Korean rice wine) from the Mapcy brand.

This is the third stop for“K-culture Pop-up,” after Busan and New York. The culture ministry said that the event's next stop is Thailand in September.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]