Chungnam Promotes Local Festivals with AI-Powered Hye-eun Lee
Emotional Marketing Campaign Resonates Across Generations
Chungnam Province's festival promotion project, "AI Hye-eun in Her 20s," will conclude its activities with the "Hongseong Global Barbecue Festival," which opens on October 30. This campaign, which featured an AI recreation of singer Hye-eun Lee during her prime to introduce the region's signature festivals, generated a strong response as cross-generational, relatable content.
On October 27, the province announced that, in celebration of the "2025-2026 Visit Chungnam Years," it had appointed the AI-powered "Hye-eun in Her 20s" as an ambassador and produced promotional videos for major festivals in the province.
AI Hye-eun has served as a "digital ambassador," introducing 10 representative festivals in Chungnam, including the Nonsan Strawberry Festival in March, the Dangjin Gijisi Tug-of-War Festival, the Asan Seongwoong Yi Sun-sin Festival, the Seocheon Hansan Ramie Fabric Festival, the Boryeong Mud Festival, the Gyeryong Military Culture Festival, the Geumsan World Ginseng Festival, the Cheonan Heungtaryeong Dance Festival, and the Gongju and Buyeo Baekje Cultural Festival.
The project has been praised for evoking nostalgia for the 1970s and 1980s among middle-aged and older generations, while offering younger audiences a fresh experience through content that merges AI technology. In fact, Shorts videos featuring AI Hye-eun have achieved high view counts on social media, contributing to greater awareness of Chungnam's tourism brand.
The "Hongseong Global Barbecue Festival," where AI Hye-eun will make her final appearance, will be held at the Hongju Eupseong area from October 30 to November 2.
A theme park-style barbecue zone will be set up, allowing visitors to enjoy a variety of barbecue dishes at affordable prices, and is expected to attract food enthusiasts from across the country.
The province will sequentially release the final video series featuring AI Hye-eun on October 27, October 31, and November 1, marking the grand finale of the project. The videos will be available on Chungnam Tourism's official YouTube channel.
A provincial official stated, "The AI Hye-eun project was a new attempt that allowed us to convey the charm of Chungnam in a friendly and emotional way," adding, "We will continue to enhance the brand value of Chungnam tourism through innovative content marketing."
Meanwhile, the real singer Hye-eun Lee also contributed to promoting Chungnam by appearing on KBS 2TV's "Living Together with Park Won-sook" and introducing local attractions.
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