Actor Park Bo-gum will appear on the New York Times Square billboard on Chuseok day to promote hanbok to the world.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Craft and Design Foundation said on the 2nd that they will unveil a hanbok pictorial video of Park Bo-gum on the Times Square billboard in Manhattan, New York, on the 6th, Chuseok day (local time).
The pictorial video was produced as part of "Hanbok Wave," a hanbok promotion project. Now in its sixth year, Hanbok Wave is a project that collaborates with Korean Wave artists to showcase the appeal of hanbok to the international community and helps capable hanbok brands expand overseas.
Last year featured actor Kim Tae-ri, 2023 featured actor Suzy, and 2022 featured former figure skater Kim Yuna. Park Bo-gum is the first male model.
In addition to New York's Times Square, the pictorial video will be shown the same day on billboards at Shinsegae Square in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Piazza del Duomo in Milan, Italy, Shinjuku in Tokyo, Japan, and Citadium Caumartin in Paris, France.
Starting on the 6th, the pictorial photos and an interview video will also be available on the official social media (SNS) accounts of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KCDF, along with the pictorial video. From the 15th of next month to Feb. 11 of next year, the exhibition "Graceful lines, dignified textures" at Culture Station Seoul 284, the former Seoul Station, will display actual hanbok pieces.
The physical hanbok pictorial book is scheduled to be published on the 10th through Harper's Bazaar Korea's "special edition," a well-known fashion magazine.
This year, four domestic hanbok brands selected through an open call completed hanbok designs that combine traditional elegance with a modern sensibility together with Park Bo-gum.
Lee Jeong-mi, cultural policy director at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, "The recent Korean Wave trend is where traditional culture combines with popular culture to present a refined style," adding, "We hope that, together with Korean Wave star actor Park Bo-gum, the beauty of modern men's hanbok will become known worldwide."