Changwon K-POP World Festival Returns to the Global Stage

Finalists from Over 60 Countries to Compete in October
Changwon to Host Global Festival, Drawing Worldwide Attention

Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam announced that it will host the 2025 Changwon K-POP World Festival at Changwon Square on October 17, bringing together K-POP fans from around the world.

Jang Yangsuk, Director of the Culture, Tourism, and Sports Bureau, is explaining about the festival.

This festival, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and KBS and supported by Gyeongsangnam-do, Changwon City, and others, will feature performances by participants who have advanced to the finals through intense local preliminaries in more than 60 countries worldwide and through the first and second rounds of judging in Seoul, as well as celebratory performances by K-POP artists.

The city expects that this year's festival will go beyond a simple performance and make a significant contribution to enhancing Changwon's city brand globally and attracting more cultural tourists. In particular, the city anticipates that the festival will have a positive impact on the local economy and help solidify Changwon's image as a cultural city by attracting both foreign and domestic tourists.

Preliminary rounds for the festival will be held in various regions around the world, including Switzerland, El Salvador, Ukraine, and Russia, through July. At these preliminaries, promotional videos about Changwon will be screened, and the city plans to continue fostering synergy with K-POP culture so that Changwon can further establish itself as a global cultural city.

In addition, the city plans to reschedule the 2026 Changwon K-POP World Festival to April, aligning it with major local festivals such as the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival, in order to maximize efforts to attract overseas and domestic tourists.

Chang Kimyong, acting mayor of Changwon Special City, stated, "The impact of K-POP has already been proven worldwide, making this a great opportunity to come together with tourists and fans from all over the globe. We will make every effort to ensure that when people think of K-POP, they naturally think of Changwon, by developing the festival into a bigger event every year."