The exhibition "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" is a popular attraction of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. (Yonhap News) 

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

The International K-Tourism Roadshow in the U.K. is promoting Korean culture. 

To mark Visit Korea Year 2023-24, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on June 8 said it will jointly host two editions of the roadshow with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) in London. The first is slated for the Victoria and Albert Museum later that day and the second on June 10 in the entertainment district Outernet London. 

The ministry and KTO on the afternoon of June 8 at the museum will host a briefing on tourism in Korea for 200 representatives from British travel agencies and media. 

Ten outstanding tourism items featuring Korean culture will be presented including tours of filming locations in Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, of the reality series "BTS in the SOOP" featuring K-pop sensation BTS; culinary tour of DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) Peace Trail with a grandmother from Gangwon-do; evening picnic of fried chicken and beer along the Hangang River with a night view; and K-pop star makeup tour in Seoul's Gangnam-gu District. 

With the participation of locals, the roadshow on the morning of June 10 begins in Outernet London in the British capital. The venue in the heart of the city is a tourism landmark and cultural complex space attracting four million visitors per year.

At a space with high-definition LED screens, media art under the theme of tourism in Korea by young Korean artists are displayed as well as videos promoting Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

An outdoor booth with a pojangmacha, or a tent-style street food kiosk in Korea, under the theme "Taste Korea" serves Korean street food. The BTS fan base in the U.K. also plans a flash mob to attract the country's millennials and Gen Z. 

"British interest in Korea has risen as seen by the exhibition 'Hallyu! The Korean Wave' at the Victoria and Albert Museum recently attracting over 100,000 visitors," said Park Jong-taek, director-general of the ministry's Tourism Policy Bureau. "We will aggressively develop sales in converting Korea's heated popularity into tourism demand."