Park Bogum Appointed as 2025 Korea Tourism Honorary Ambassador

Actor Park Bogum has been appointed as the "2025 Korea Tourism Honorary Ambassador."

On July 24, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Park Bogum as the new face of Korea tourism by releasing a teaser video for the 2025 Korea Tourism Overseas Campaign on its official YouTube channel, "Imagine Your Korea." In the video, Park Bogum says, "Will you be the main character of this story?" marking the beginning of the "Never Ending Korea" overseas campaign advertisement.

Teaser Video of the 2025 Korea Tourism Overseas Campaign Featuring Park Bogum
Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

The Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization plan to hold an appointment ceremony on July 29, officially naming Park Bogum as the "2025 Korea Tourism Honorary Ambassador." At the ceremony, two overseas campaign commercials featuring Park Bogum and a special behind-the-scenes video will be unveiled. The two commercials were produced in the format of a short film and a music video, respectively, and Park Bogum personally performed the theme song for the music video, titled "On My Way." "On My Way" was written and composed by KZLAB, a production team under renowned K-pop producer KENZIE, and the track will be released on Spotify, Melon, and other platforms on July 24.

In previous years, the Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization have appointed top Hallyu stars such as NewJeans (2024), Lee Jungjae (2023), and BTS (2022) as Korea Tourism Honorary Ambassadors, leading global campaigns to attract international visitors to Korea.

This year's ambassador, Park Bogum, recently received widespread acclaim worldwide for his role in the hit Netflix series "My Name is Loh Kiwan." Leveraging his strength in nuanced acting, Park Bogum is expected to authentically convey the appeal of Korean tourism over the coming year.

To attract fans of K-content to visit Korea, the Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization have partnered with Netflix to produce and release promotional videos featuring globally popular series such as "Squid Game" and "All of Us Are Dead." The "Squid Game" edition ("Escape to Korea - Better Run") was released on July 3 and, as of July 23, has surpassed 8.4 million views. The "All of Us Are Dead" edition ("Escape to Korea - Better Together") is scheduled for release on August 7. According to Netflix, 72% of K-content viewers express an intention to visit Korea, nearly double the 37% among non-viewers.

The appointment ceremony on July 29 will also include a premiere screening of the Korea Tourism Overseas Campaign commercials. Themed advertisements created to support tourism recovery in regions affected by recent disasters will be introduced: the "Gyeongsang" edition ("Gyeongsang, Where Energy Never Sleeps") for Gyeongsang, which suffered from large-scale wildfires, and the "Jeolla" edition ("Jeolla, Where Beauty Moves Hearts") for Jeolla, which faced challenges following a Jeju Air passenger plane accident last year. The two videos, which showcase the unique charms of Gyeongsang and Jeolla through "music" and "dance," were released on July 10 and July 17, respectively. In particular, the "Gyeongsang" edition highlights Gyeongju, the host city of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Until November, the Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization will broadcast Korea tourism promotional videos on landmark billboards in 16 major cities, including New York Times Square, Tokyo, Beijing, and Bangkok, and will also promote Korean tourism through YouTube, Netflix, and other channels.

A policy official from the Ministry stated, "This year, there are a total of eight Korea Tourism Overseas Campaign commercials, with over 85% filmed at destinations outside of Seoul. By discovering and introducing lesser-known tourist attractions, we aim to contribute to the revitalization of regional tourism."