Local governments' inept administration skills lead to ‘half-hearted projects’ everywhere

[Anchor]

The number of tourists visiting South Korea for K-pop is increasing.

Various local governments are also trying to attract K-pop tourists, but often end up wasting their budgets.

Why is that? Our reporter Son Min-joo has investigated.

[Report]

This is a sculpture that expresses 'hope' by combining the letters of the English word.

It was donated by the Japanese fan club of BTS member J-Hope, who is from Gwangju.

The sculpture is installed in 'Hope Street,' which is being promoted by the Buk-gu district of Gwangju, where J-Hope spent his school years. However, the only attractions directly related to J-Hope are the sculptures made by fans.

As intellectual property issues were raised, they could no longer use names or faces, so they significantly modified the content to include purple fences and chairs that evoke J-Hope.

[Gwangju Buk-gu Official/Voice Altered: "We plan to fill the content so that people can enjoy K-pop, K-food, and K-culture."]

This is a K-pop sharing cafe created by the Dong-gu district office of Gwangju.

It was made for idol birthday parties or K-pop event venues, but no related events have ever been held.

This is because hosting events or producing souvenirs under the name of the artist poses a risk of intellectual property infringement.

The NewJeans 2nd anniversary event, which was prepared as the first event in July, was also canceled.

In Samcheok City, Gangwon Province, a sculpture was installed at a BTS music video filming location but was later removed.

[Jung Duk-hyun/Pop Culture Critic: "There is a clear understanding that it is much more effective in attracting tourists, but the important thing is that the process of utilizing this must go through legal procedures."]

K-pop marketing is being promoted in various places, but as budgets are invested without careful consideration, it is becoming a half-hearted project.

This is KBS News, Son Min-joo.