By Xu Aiying
Video = Korea.net's official YouTube channel

The globally popular children's characters Pinkfong and Baby Shark are helping promote Korean culture abroad.

The Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), an affiliate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, on Dec. 13 announced its release of the English-language book "Let's Explore Korea with Pinkfong and Baby Shark" to promote Korean culture to children worldwide.

Geared for children ages 7-11, the book has the two characters exploring Korea in both fun and easy-to-understand ways. Spanning just under 100 pages, it has 18 chapters under five themes including Korean cultural heritage, food and seasons.

On the occasion of the book's debut, KOCIS on Dec. 14 released a music video featuring both characters singing a children's song in the style of gugak (traditional music) based on the main content.

The video adds the folk song "Arirang" to the melody of the song "Pinkfong and Baby Shark's Workout," whose music video has attracted over 13.7 billion views on YouTube, a piece easy for children to sing along with.

KOCIS will distribute the book to schools and libraries around the globe through Korean Cultural Centers and the government's diplomatic missions and embassies abroad.

The video is available on KOCIS' official website (www.kocis.go.kr), the government's multilingual portal (www.korea.net), and Pinkfong and Baby Shark's official English-language YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@Pinkfong/videos)

"We hope for children around the world to develop curiosity about and familiarity with Korea through the English-language book and music video that promote Korean culture," KOCIS Director Kim Jangho said. "Going forward, we will monitor the response and publish the book in languages other than English."

This is the cover of the English-language book "Let's Explores Korea with Pinkfong and Baby Shark" published by the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), an affiliate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. (KOCIS)