[INTERVIEW] Global creators share their love for Korea at 2024 K-Wave Festival

By Pyo Kyung-min

Global creators and cultural ambassadors who showcase the beauty and heritage of Korea worldwide expressed their gratitude for being honored at the 2024 K-Wave Festival for their contributions to promoting Korean culture globally, pledging to intensify their efforts to enhance awareness of Korea further.

Organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the 2024 K-Wave Festival is set to take place on Saturday to recognize individuals and groups who have made remarkable contributions to promoting Korean culture worldwide.

The festival's first segment, the K-Creators Awards, will honor top participants in the Korea.net Honorary Reporters and K-Influencers programs. These initiatives aim to support content creators who promote Korean culture through articles, videos and other creative works.

This year, the top honors in the Korea.net Honorary Reporters category were awarded to Manuel Guthmann from Germany, Frenky Ramiro de Jesus from Timor-Leste, Ilse Gabriela Diaz Gasca from Mexico, Yulia Veselchakova from Russia and Foteini Chatzoudi from Greece, each recognized for their outstanding in-depth articles on the Korean experience.

The Korea Times sat with the award recipients on Friday, a day before the event, while they were rehearsing for Saturday's ceremony at Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul.

Guthmann, awarded for his approachable German-language articles on Korean culture, expressed surprise at the honor.

"I never imagined I'd receive this award ... My journey with Korea began when I arrived in 2019. At first, I knew nothing about the country, but soon, I fell in love with everything about it — the tourist attractions, the culture, the kind people and especially the food," he said.

"Now, I get to talk about Korea day and night as an honorary reporter. It's amazing to be able to document everything I know about Korea … I even feel like I’d want to be born Korean in my next life."

In the K-Influencers category, awardees include Thailand's Aiyaphat Wankawisant, Ftima Del Valle Natera Moya and Chiquinquira Del Valle Natera Moya from Venezuela, Indonesia's Anastasia Setia Widarta, Pakistan's Kalsoom Nafasat and Tunisia's Salma Knani, who were all recognized for their engaging, creative video content showcasing Korean culture.

The event also recognizes winners of the international content contest, Talk Talk Korea 2024, including honorees Joseph Uhiene from Nigeria, Marjorie Diaz from Panama, Andrei Lugtu from the Philippines and Gahir from India.

"I didn’t even check the results. My friend, who submitted the entry with me, told me I had won. I was so thrilled that I called my mom, crying," said Gahir, who won the memes and trends category with a humorous take on common Korean phone conversations.

"I want everyone to dive deeply into Korea and learn more like I have. There are so many resources out there, and with more people realizing there’s so much more to Korea than just K-pop, understanding of the culture will only grow."

The festival's second segment, the K-Community Challenge, highlights global fan clubs dedicated to Korean culture. This year’s challenge categories include "hansik" or Korean food; Joseon pop, a blend of traditional Korean music with modern pop; "sogo dance" (small drum dance) and "taekwonmu," a taekwondo-inspired dance.

Winners in each category were awarded an exclusive nine-day tour of Korea's cultural and historical landmarks, including Gyeongbok Palace and Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul, as well as Dodamsambong Peaks and Gosu Cave in Danyang, North Chungcheong Province.

The festival features not only K-pop performances but also appearances by K-pop acts such as WOOAH, EPEX and SF9, and the dance crew Bebe, winners of “Street Woman Fighter 2” (2023). Russia’s Luminance dance team, celebrated for their choreography to the festival’s theme song, "Shining on You," will kick off the event with a special performance.

Uhiene, the Nigeria-based winner of Talk Talk Korea 2024's promotion video category, reflected on his journey with Korean culture, which began in 2017 when he discovered K-pop and started teaching it to Nigerian students. He described learning about Korea as "a continuous series of wows."

"This festival is an opportunity to share Korean culture even more, especially in my country, where international platforms and recognition are still limited," he said.