Hallyu Conference
A Hallyu (Korean Wave) convention will be held in Japan this year, put on by KCON. This will be the first time that a Hallyu convention will be held outside of Los Angeles.
CJ E&M said, “We will hold this year’s KCON events not only in Los Angeles, the U.S., but also in Japan in April. We are also planning to hold the event in the eastern part of the U.S. Once the plan is decided, a total of three KCON events will be held this year alone.”
KCON is an annual festival combined with a convention for Korean products, providing not only K-POP performances, but also fashion, food, and IT products. It is the first festival in the world that combines the culture, services, and product markets under the theme of a single country.
CJ E&M has begun holding the KCON event in Los Angeles from 2012, and has seen the rapid growth of attendees, which rose twofold or more every year since then.
KCON 2015 Japan is scheduled to be held at the Saitama Super Arena of Japan on April 22.
Even though Japan is a traditionally strong Hallyu market, there were not enough K-culture events. KCON 2015 Japan will offer a KPOP Cover Dance competition, a Korean style make-up experience zone, and Korean language study lectures and programs to display and sell products.
For successful promotion marketing, Kangnam, member of the K-pop hip-hop group M.I.B., was appointed as the goodwill ambassador for the event. He is uniquely qualified for this role, as his mother is Korean and his father is Japanese. He spent most of his childhood in Japan and debuted as a member of a Japanese band. Then, he moved to Korea and debuted as a member of M.I.B. Kangnam is expected to work actively in both Japan and Korea in order to publicize KCON 2015 Japan by April 22.