To promote Korean culture and popular culture, South Korea hosted its first-ever annual K-pop World Festival in Changwon in 2011. However, the festival was cancelled in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. And the following year, in 2021, the festival was held virtually. After a two-year hiatus, this year’s K-pop World Festival will be held in person in South Korea.

As part of the festival, Korean embassies worldwide organise a regional preliminary round of the K-pop World Festival in their respective countries. In Nepal, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Nepal has hosted the preliminary round of K-pop World Festival in Kathmandu in 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2021. In 2016, Mongolian Namja represented Nepal in the final round of the K-pop World Festival in Korea.

For this year’s regional preliminary round of the K-pop World Festival, more than 100 teams submitted their applications online. The top 10 teams were announced on June 1. The final round of the festival is to be held tomorrow at Nepal Academy Hall, Kamaladi, from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm. The top three winners, which will include two best dance performances and a best vocal performance, will qualify for the Korea Preliminary Round. The first, second, and third position holders will receive Rs50,000, Rs40,000, and Rs30,000, respectively.