South Korean officials dance to KPop Demon Hunters movie song to promote Apec food summit
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South Korean government spokesman Jeon Han-young dressed as a fictitious K-pop Saja Boys band member to promote a summit.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM YOUTUBE
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SEOUL – Picture this. A senior government spokesman dressed like a K-pop idol character, dancing to a viral Netflix tune – on the official YouTube channel of South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture.
On Aug 5, the ministry uploaded a video featuring spokesman Jeon Han-young dressed as Abby, a muscular K-pop boy band member of the fictitious Saja Boys in Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters movie.
In the clip, Mr Jeon takes on the Soda Pop challenge, a trending dance from the show, bouncing his shoulders to the beat.
The light-hearted video was made to promote the 10th Apec Food Security Ministerial Meeting. The summit will bring together officials from 21 Asia-Pacific economies in Incheon this weekend to discuss food security and innovation in agriculture.
“We wanted to highlight the event in a way that feels global and current, while encouraging public interest,” a ministry official said, adding that the dance challenge “was perfect for it”.
As of the morning of Aug 6, the video had surpassed 11,000 views.
The South Korean Agriculture Ministry’s recent push into digital media began in June 2024, as public concern over food prices was rising.
South Korean Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryeong started appearing in online videos to explain policy and connect more directly with the public.
Some of those videos leaned heavily into humour. For instance, in one, inspired by Netflix’s contest show Culinary Class Wars, Mr Jeon appears as competition judge Ahn Seong-jae to evaluate the South Korean Agriculture Minister’s cooking.
The ministry’s strategy seems to be working. Its YouTube channel now has more than 258,000 subscribers, the highest among Korea’s 19 central government agencies. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
