Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Cho Yongman (fifth from right) on Dec. 10, 2022, takes a group photo with award-winning K-influencers at the 2022 K-wave Festival held at the Korea International Exhibition Center, aka KINTEX, in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do Province.

By Kim Hyelin
Photos and video = Korean Culture and Information Service

The Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), an affiliate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, through March 9 is recruiting its fourth class of K-influencers, or promoters of Hallyu (Korean Wave) from around the world through social media and other channels.

KOCIS plans to name around 2,000 K-influencers this year.

Anyone with the intent to create Korean-related content and who has a YouTube channel can apply by clicking on the banner at the bottom of Korea.net's website and submitting an application.

The results of the applications come out on March 14 via email.

Since 2020, KOCIS has run its K-influencer project by recruiting promotional ambassadors and creators of videos featuring Korean culture, providing them with customized training.

This year marks the first time for KOCIS to connect active influencers abroad with K-influencer trainees in the influencers' countries and provide support for content feedback and collaborative content production.

Successful applicants to the K-influencer program receive both on- and offline practical education on content production ranging from that related to Korean culture to filming and editing methods. Those who make videos on select themes can receive specialized mentoring based on their entries. 

This is the official poster for this year's recruiting of K-influencers.

A combined 620 K-influencers in 72 countries began work in 2020, with the number rising every year and reaching 1,856 from 103 countries last year. The top 10 YouTube channels of these promoters saw their number of views skyrocket from just 39,000 in 2020 to an astounding 700 million last year.

Foreign nationals of diverse backgrounds and nationalities are leading the way in promoting Korea through their own content and methods. They include a Mexican who graduated from Korea National University of Arts with a degree in minyo (folk songs), a Jordanian YouTuber who runs a popular channel on Hallyu and a manager of a Korean restaurant in the U.K.