Expanded ‘2023 K-Wonderland’ Set for Global Release on August 1

-Contains the most popular Korean content like “Yumi’s Cells” and “The King’s Affection”

-“Whatever you dream” overwhelmingly chosen as the slogan

SEOUL, South Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#Hallyu–The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Park Bo-gyun, “MCST”) and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (Director Jeong Kil-hwa, “KOFICE”) announced the relaunch of the expanded world of the K-Wonderland metaverse for 2023 for Tuesday, August 1. K-Wonderland, operated by the MCST and KOFICE, is a Hallyu (Korean Wave) metaverse built on the global metaverse platform ZEPETO.

In the expanded world of K-Wonderland for 2023, three existing worlds have been renewed, and one new world has been developed. The interactive content and game elements reflecting the preferences of Generation Z have significantly increased, and the K-content metaverse world has been infused with various genres such as K-pop, dramas, webtoons, movies, and entertainment.

Users overwhelmingly voted for, “Whatever you dream” as the official slogan

Contains a wide variety of fun and interesting content, from popular culture to traditional pastimes

K-Wonderland announced “Whatever you dream” as this year’s slogan, signifying that everything that Hallyu fans around the world dream of comes true. To create a metaverse culture in collaboration with users, the slogan was selected via direct voting by users, with over 900 users participating in the slogan vote and over 93% showing their unrivaled support for the newly selected slogan.

The existing world has undergone a complete transformation through a large-scale update, in line with the slogan “Whatever you dream.” “K-Stage,” where users can experience K-pop performances, “K-Studio,” which brings famous scenes from K-content to life, and “K-Wonder Hall,” where users can access the latest Hallyu news, have returned with completely redesigned looks and three times the amount of interactive content as before. In addition, there are plans to provide users with a unique experience by opening a secretive space called the “K-Wonder Awards,” exclusively for outstanding visitors to K-Wonderland.

“K-Studio” offers a unique experience where Hallyu fans can become the main characters of popular scenes from movies like “Sunny,” remade in 5 different countries including Japan and Vietnam, dramas like “The King’s Affection,” webtoons popular among Millennials and Generation Z like “Yumi’s Cells,” and new variety shows like “Star’s TOP Recipe at Fun-Staurant,” all reproduced within the metaverse.

In addition, traditional Korean games such as neolttwigi (seesaw jumping) and jegichagi (foot volleyball) have been added as metaverse games, adding fun and excitement. Amusement rides like hot air balloons, bumper cars, balloon games, and picnic areas have also been added, further strengthening the concept of a dream-like Hallyu amusement park.

Expanding events for the global spread of the K-metaverse

Metaverse fan party and avatar dance challenge coming soon!

A variety of monthly events will also be held to increase interest among users and encourage consistent visits. A metaverse fan party with emerging Hallyu stars and an avatar dance challenge have also been scheduled. In addition, plans to operate K-Wonderland experience booths both within Korea and overseas that integrate online and offline elements will increase interest in the platform. In particular, the representative avatars, “K-Wonder Stars,” will showcase different costumes for each season and situation, providing visual enjoyment for users while informing of events as well.

The “K-Wonderland UGC Awards,” focused on discovering outstanding secondary creations, will continue for the second time in October. This year, excitement is building for what outstanding creations will emerge during the awards that received positive feedback for user contribution to the voluntary spread of Hallyu culture by creating their own content.

Director Jeong Kil-hwa of KOFICE, on this year’s metaverse programs, said, “We have upgraded our content to the degree that we can say we’ve turned over a new leaf compared to before. Particularly through the hard work put into the ‘K-Studio,’ users will be able to enjoy incredibly popular content like ‘Sunny,’ ‘The King’s Affection,’ and ‘Yumi’s Cells.’” The new Hallyu metaverse platform, K-Wonderland, goes live worldwide on August 1.

K-Wonderland can be visited by anyone through the ZEPETO app, and more details can be found on the official K-Wonderland website (kwonderland.kr).

Contacts

Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange

Kim Jun-hyeong, Head of the Exchange Program Team

+82 2-3253-1735