India has a “treasure box” of stories and there are many Korean companies looking to back good content, says Dragon Park, the general manager of Korea Creative Content Agency India (KOCCA) ahead of the agency’s plan to establish a liaison office in the country.

KOCCA, a non-profit organisation working under South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism since its inception in 2009, is also planning to organise South Korean Content Expo in September to facilitate better synergy between the two countries, a PTI report stated yesterday from New Delhi.

Given their historical and artistic connections, the agency aims to bring together the entertainment industries of both the countries to amplify their global influence.

KOCCA GM Dragon Park, while addressing a media conference, said they were committed to nurturing the S Korean content by building and fostering exchange and collaboration with advanced nations.

Talking to ZEE India, he said “Our primary goal is to set up a liaison office in India. We aim to felicitate a playground for Indian and Korean companies to meet and collaborate by setting up business-to-business events. In September we plan to have a K Content Expo in India to help build momentum between the two countries to work together.”

Discovering True Fan of K-Pop: Meanwhile, another PTI report from New Delhi stated that the Korean Cultural Centre India is bringing back its annual competition ‘All India K-POP Contest 2024’, which aims to discover true fans of Korean pop music from across the country.

The first round is to be held online between May 17 to June 21, during which the participants would be judged on the basis of their skill, expression, pronunciation, similarity to the original song and stage presence, the KCCI announced on Tuesday at an event here. The regional preliminaries will be held in 11 regions of India from July 27 to September 1.

The contestants selected in the preliminaries will advance to attend the semi-finals that will take place in Mumbai on October 19.

The final round will be held in conjunction with the Korea Industrial Exhibition on November 23 at Yashobhoomi, an exhibition hall in New Delhi, also the largest international exhibition and convention centre of India.

The finalists will also get a chance to visit Korea. LG Electronics India will sponsor the event.

Hwang Il Yong, director of Korean Cultural Centre India, said, “In a survey held regarding the preference for Korean cultural content abroad, India ranked as one of the highest nations around the world. This year, in addition to the main event, we plan to hold various participatory events that everyone can enjoy, such as ‘K-POP On Street’.”