The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, on April 30  held an induction ceremony at the CKL Stage of the Korea Creative Content Agency in the Jung-gu District of Seoul for the newly appointed 2024 class of Honorary Reporters and K-influencers, called as the ‘Korean Culture Content Creators’ under this year’s theme “ K-Voyage Begins, which perfectly describes the start of an extraordinary collective global endeavour of these K-creators of discovering and enjoying new experiences in the Korean culture. 

The event, which was live-streamed via Korea.net’s official YouTube channel and attracted a viewership of an estimated 26,843 viewers, was also aired in real-time on the Zoom platform for K-creators to connect from across the globe. The event was very memorable for me as I was one of the global content creators chosen from across the world to participate in the ceremony through an interactive webinar.

Launched in the year 2011, the program in its 14th year now comprises a total of 2,641 foreign promoters of Korean culture, including 1,387 members from 93 countries of the 14th class of Korea.net Honorary Reporters and 1,254 members hailing from 97 countries of the fifth class of K-influencers. These K-creators will create articles, videos and photographs throughout the year, reporting and sharing a diverse array of Korea-related news and events by crafting them from foreign perspectives in their native languages to promote Korean culture worldwide. 

The event commenced with a celebratory traditional Korean performance by a special team from the Korea National University of Arts including Lee Jae Deuk, who played traditional Korean music with a Piri, a traditional Korean instrument and Go Hyesu and Nancy Castro, who gave a powerful minyo (folk song) performance of ‘Arirang’, enchanting all the participants of the event.

The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In Chon, Deputy Minister Yong Ho Sung and a hundred K-culture global content creators residing in Korea were in attendance at the event. Hundred other promoters abroad took part in the event online. In his congratulatory message to all the newly recruited global promoters, Minister Yu called them ‘invaluable friends of Korea’ for their sincere efforts to promote the nation and form a large-scale Hallyu network. He emphasized the significance of the content created by each individual on Korean culture, history, tourism, and policy which would serve as a gateway for people worldwide to better understand and experience Korea. Minister Yu expressed confidence that through their contributions, Korean culture would spread more extensively and profoundly across the globe.

Representative members from the Honorary Reporters and K-influencers program, including Faranaksadat Solat from Iran, Abigail Tung from Canada, Bacu Antonia from Romania and Albert Busutil from Spain received their certificates of appointment during the appointment ceremony while the virtually connected members were presented with their certificates through the webinar. During the event, the in-person representatives shared their experiences of when they first came to Korea and their impressions and future aspirations while being associated with the program as global promoters of Korean culture.

Joining the ceremony through the webinar turned out even more enjoyable for me as well as all the other participants thanks to activities like the awarding of certificates, group photo event and the fun pop quiz on Korean culture in which the hosts engaged with the on-site as well as the online participants, who enthusiastically participated in answering the questions quickly.

Being a webinar participant, I took part in the official rehearsal on the morning of the event wherein the organizers guided us through the live event and made many connection checks and adjustments to ensure a smooth ceremony. The main rehearsal took place at 6:30 a.m. in my country. I was initially tired but had so much fun interacting with others from across the globe, who despite the time differences, exhibited great passion, energy and excitement throughout the event to welcome the new class of global promoters of Korean culture. I felt honoured while proudly displaying the Indian national flag as my background and dressing in traditional Indian attire, joining other webinar participants who did the same. 

I also interacted with some of the other global Korean culture content creators who participated in the ceremony online via the Zoom platform and shared their experiences of being a part of the event. Honorary Reporter Alaa Atef Ebada from Egypt called her “really exciting”. She further added, “We wait for the induction ceremony every year as it's like a festival for a new beginning, despite different languages, and different time zones. We met all together and got to know each other. I worked for 12 hrs my duty shift at the hospital and then slept for only 3 hours to attend the ceremony. And it was worth it! I even won the quiz. I'm grateful” 

Chaima Anane, who is an Honorary Reporter and K-influencer from Algeria, said," Attending the induction ceremony via Zoom is a dream of most of the K-creators and I was so lucky to be chosen to attend it despite the huge time difference between Korea and Algeria, and I didn't regret it. I enjoyed the ceremony from beginning to end, especially the performance part; it was amazing. Overall, it was definitely an enriching and inspiring experience."  

Marcellina Kurniawan, and Anastasia Kurniawan, two K-influencers from Indonesia who run the YouTube channel ‘Miles and Cals’ said that overall, they enjoyed the event via webinar. “The quiz time is really fun! We loved the musical performance at the beginning as well.”, they added. A

Another K-influencer, Nikoshi Minhara Monali Kahawevithana from Sri Lanka shared that it was an honour for her to represent her country Sri Lanka in the beloved country Korea. She further added, “I was so happy seeing many new K-Creators this year too.” 

Diana Laura Cordero Martinez who has been newly appointed as an Honorary Reporter this year, shared “ To me, participating in the ceremony via the webinar was like a big, happy friends reunion because it was so easy to connect with everyone.”

I am grateful to Korea.net and everyone who made this event a success and for giving me this valuable opportunity to feel closer to the live event. Being an Honorary Reporter or K-influencer offers a host of opportunities to gain invaluable lessons and have some of the most memorable experiences of one's life taking part in this ceremony through the webinar, which inspires one to improve with the support of all the fellow K-creators, under the guidance of mentors at Korea.net while also growing with a community of Hallyu lovers from around the world. 

I hope that everyone inspired by the ceremony realizes that our “K-Voyage Begins” now!