South Korea will soon launch a new visa for foreigners who dream of training as a K-pop idol, in a bid to return the tourism industry to pre-pandemic levels.
The “K-Culture Training Visa” will be open to foreigners who want to train in K-pop dancing, choreography and modeling, the Ministry of Finance announced on Monday.
Applicants don’t necessarily need to audition or get a callback offer from a talent agency – at least not yet – as more details are expected to be announced later this year.
The increasing interest in all things Korean has prompted many foreign fans to travel to South Korea and even learn the language, with some indulging in entire pilgrimages to visit the filming locations of K-pop music videos and K-dramas .
Seoul now wants to use the popularity of its culture as a tourist draw for more people around the world, potentially easing barriers for travelers from Southeast Asia. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), travelers from countries such as Thailand and the Philippines made up more than a fifth of total visitors to South Korea last year, despite sometimes lengthy visa requirements.
The rise of South Korean cultural exports since the 1990s, dubbed the Hallyu Wave or K-wave, has exploded over the past decade, with supergroups like BTS and Blackpink breaking through international charts and Korean dramas becoming increasingly popular on streaming platforms. .
According to the MCST, K-pop is already the most cited reason to visit the country, with particularly strong interest from foreign fans from Southeast Asia, Europe and the US.
Korean celebrities have been featured heavily in travel ads, with Emmy-winning “Squid Game” actor Lee Jung-jae becoming the honorary ambassador for the country, while flagship airline Korean Air even collaborated with boy band SuperM for its 2019 in-flight safety video.
But while the nationalities of those entering the country are becoming increasingly diverse, tourism is slow to recover to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Finance Ministry.
About 11 million people visited the country last year – a slight increase from the year before, but far less than in 2019, when more than 17.5 million tourists visited the country, according to government data.
Tourism revenues also lagged, generating $15.1 billion in 2023, down 25% from $20 billion in 2019. The ministry said the slow recovery was due to a shift in spending from shopping to cultural experiences.
South Korea has also made it easier for digital nomads to stay and work in the country, introducing its “work visa” early this year. The government is considering expanding the scheme so that home workers can also enjoy tourism while working in the country.
While the latest announcements are a crucial step toward further opening South Korea to international workers, some experts believe these visas could ultimately expand the labor force and ease the demographic crisis in a country with the world’s lowest fertility rate could alleviate.
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