Korean Cultural Centers (KCC) around the world will host events to further spread Korean culture around the globe. Shown is a traditional mask dance performed by the troupe Greatest Masque, which will perform in July at the KCC in Warsaw, Poland.

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova
Photos = Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Korean Cultural Centers (KCC) worldwide will host events throughout this year to spread Korean culture throughout the globe.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on May 28 said 18 KCCs in 17 countries will support the spread of Hallyu (Korean Wave) in collaboration with cultural and arts institutions and festival organizing committees in each region.

First, the KCC in Poland in July will have The Greatest Masque, a traditional dance troupe, put on talchum (mask dance) at a festival in Warsaw for the performing arts.

The center in the Czech Republic that same month will invite a Korean performing arts team to the largest music festival in Central Europe, Colours of Ostrava. The KCC in Germany in September hosts the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra to perform at major classical music festivals including Musikfest Berlin.

In Washington, the popera group Poet in September will embark on its first U.S. tour to mark the 80th anniversary of national liberation. Popera is a musical genre that blends pop music with opera or gives a modern twist to classic music.

In Vietnam, renowned soprano Sumi Jo and other Korean classical musicians in October will perform at a bilateral concert as part of events to mark this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

And KCCs in Hungary, Austria, Japan, China, France, Brazil, Australia, Russia, Indonesia, India and the United Arab Emirates will promote aspects of Korean culture such as calligraphy, literature, jazz, dance and K-pop.

The ministry said, "We will offer all policy support so that KCCs can play the role of bridges connecting Korean artists with the world and undergo a rebirth as a comprehensive platform for Hallyu covering a range of sectors."

Official posters for Korean cultural events from May to June at KCCs in Shanghai, China (left), and Osaka, Japan