By Honorary Reporter Anna Samolowka from Poland
Photos = Anna Samolowka

2023 was the year when the capital of Poland overflowed with Korean-related events. The following is a brief overview of the events in Warsaw that I took part in.

Warsaw International Book Fair
In May, I attended the Warsaw International Book Fair at the Palace of Culture and Science. Running from May 25-28, the event had global publishers showcase their collections at individual booths and offering books at discounted prices, along with workshops, lectures and meetings with the authors.

The Korean Culture Center in Warsaw organized two packed meetings with Korean writers: Sohn Won-pyung and Shin Kyung-sook. In the Q&A with Sohn, who wrote "Almond," the audience asked her many questions including about her inspiration for the story and how she felt when K-pop juggernaut BTS recommended her book. She also signed autographs for attendees at the end.

Author Sohn Won-pyung

The main topic of the meeting with Shin was her novel "Violets," whose Polish-language edition was published in the second quarter. The writer is also famous in Poland for her other books like "I'll Be There" and "Please Look After Mom," thus the audience asked her about her other works at the event. 

Writer Shin Kyung-sook 

Breakfast Market featuring Korean food
In August on weekends, Breakfast Market showcases delicious meals to start the day. This year's edition featured Korean food like gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), corn dogs and tteokbokki (spicy rice cake), kimchi and choco pie. 

Complementing the atmosphere was K-pop music, a taekwondo demonstration, lecture on kimchi and more, as I briefly felt as if I was in Korea. Korean cuisine is not widely popular in Poland, so organizing such events brings it closer to the Polish people. 

The 2023 Breakfast Market in Warsaw featured Korean food.

Music

The first Korean music event in Poland that I attended was in August. Held in the country's 11th-biggest city of Katowice, the concert had the musical collective Balming Tiger, which dubs itself a "multinational alternative K-pop group," at the Off Festival, an annual alternative music festival series. Despite rain, the open-air concert still had a lot of attendees.

The second event was Poland's first K-pop festival in Warsaw. This was my first experience at a K-pop concert and I saw acts like MAMAMOO, SF9, Shownu and Hyung-won from MONSTA X.

The top three photos are Balming Tiger performing in Katowice and the bottom three are of the K-pop Nation Festival in Warsaw.

Other events
The Warsaw Korean Film Festival that ran from Nov. 7-14 featured a Q&A with director Kim Jee-woon. December also saw an immersive exhibition of the art of Kim Whanki.

2023 was an amazing year to experience Hallyu in Poland and I hope that 2024 brings even more magnificent Korean cultural experiences. 

msjeon22@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.