KOREAN WAVE. Beauty, culture, music, and arts will be the highlights of public events that the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines (KCC) will organize this year. The public is invited to know the secrets to beautiful skin, attend exhibits and concerts for free through these events. (Poster courtesy of KCC)
MANILA -- Hallyu (Korean wave) fans in the Philippines have something to look forward to this 2020 -- events that would highlight beauty, culture, and music.
The Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines (KCC) would organize "Chok Chok Korea" in April for Filipino fans of K-pop idols to hear their beauty secrets, straight from the experts.
"Chok Chok" means "moist", and is used to describe hydrated skin with luminous complexion, KCC director Lee Jincheol told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday.
He said KCC is still finalizing the details of "Chok Chok Korea", and this will be open to the public. This is the first time the group would organize an event related to K-beauty.
To help students better understand K-culture, KCC has been doing cultural caravans since 2012.
The goal is to inspire Filipinos while also encouraging them to love their own culture, Lee said earlier.
The cultural caravan is held in selected schools that hold Korean classes and those that offer Korean language classes. There are film screenings, lectures, traditional Korean art classes, K-pop dance classes, and cooking classes for high school students. There is also a booth where teachers and students could wear a Hanbok (traditional Korean attire), a book exhibit, and a photo booth in every caravan.
Last year, close to 24,000 students in Luzon have benefited from the seven caravans that KCC organized.
"We are hoping to tap more students in 2020, especially since this is the third year of SPFL-K (Special Program in Foreign Language-Korean) in some high schools," Lee said.
Seven schools will be visited this year, he added.
Music, arts
Filipinos' love for music will also be satisfied as KCC would again mount free concerts this year.
Philippines-Korea Exchange Festival is set in September. This is organized with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, with the goal of showcasing talents and culture from both countries.
More than 2,000 people attended the festival last year in Pasay City.
Another treat to the public is set in December, via the staging of the Guerilla K-Night.
"Guerilla" means pop-up or surprise events in the TV show program in Korea.
Normally, Korean artists and idols have this kind of event as a way to surprise and thank their fans, Lee said.
In a previous interview with the PNA, Lee said what makes K-pop unique is its non-exclusivity, as it embraces other cultures.
"There is open-mindedness. K-pop songs reflect the agonies, the scar, the concerns of other people," he said.
Lee added that this could be the reason many people could relate to K-pop.
Art lovers, on the other hand, can still catch the Korean Contemporary Artists’ Association (KCAA) exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila until February 28. It showcases various paintings, sculptures, and installations of 35 KCAA members.
Meanwhile, singing contest "Pinoy K-pop Star" and cooking contest, "Global Taste of Korea", are slated in July and June, respectively.
The cooking contest encourages people to create dishes that would combine both Filipino and Korean cuisines. (PNA)
