American Youth Orchestra Members Visit 'Land of the Morning Calm' to Experience K-Culture

The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 6th that 115 youth members of the 'National Youth Orchestra' (NYO-USA), operated by the Carnegie Hall Foundation, visited Korea to experience K-Culture.

NYO-USA is a classical performance group composed of youth selected from across the United States. The previous day, they visited the 'High Ground' Korea Tourism Promotion Center operated by the Korea Tourism Organization to have a special time experiencing K-Culture.

In particular, the ongoing pop-up exhibition 'Traveler's House' at High Ground, designed with a classroom concept where visitors can wear Korean school uniforms and learn Korean, gained great popularity among the youth visitors. 

With the global success of the Netflix animation 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' and the six-time Tony Award-winning Korean musical 'Maybe Happy Ending', Korea is emerging as an attractive cultural tourism destination among American youth.

The New York branch of the Korea Tourism Organization is actively conducting activities to attract youth music groups, such as American student choirs and orchestras, to visit Korea. Following NYO-USA, they are currently in discussions for visits with the Stanford University Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.

Heejin Jo, head of the Korea Tourism Organization's Americas Center, said, “Youth music groups not only involve performance-related personnel but also bring family members and have long stays, resulting in high per capita spending,” adding, “We plan to actively expand activities to broaden the scope of Korean tourism.”

jsm64@fnnews.com Sungmin Jeong Reporter