The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has released five promotional photographs featuring popular actor Park Bo-gum dressed in hanbok, traditional Korean attire, as part of a major international campaign to promote Korean cultural heritage worldwide. Park, who achieved global recognition through his starring role in the Netflix series "When Life Gives You Tangerines," has been officially appointed as the government's hanbok ambassador for 2025.
The newly unveiled images showcase the timeless elegance and beauty of hanbok through both traditional and contemporary styling approaches. In one striking photograph, Park is seen wearing a pale lavender robe adorned with intricate floral embroidery while gracefully holding a Hibiscus syriacus, which serves as South Korea's national flower. Two additional photos feature the actor wearing a "gat," a traditional Korean hat that has recently experienced a surge in international popularity following its appearance in the Netflix animated film "Kpop Demon Hunters."
The promotional campaign will officially launch next Monday with large-scale digital displays showcasing Park's hanbok photos in some of the world's most prominent locations. International audiences will see the images displayed in New York's iconic Times Square, Milan's historic Piazza del Duomo, Tokyo's bustling Shinjuku district, and at Citadium Caumartin in Paris. Domestically, the photographs will be prominently featured in Seoul's popular Myeong-dong shopping district, ensuring maximum visibility among both local residents and international tourists.
This ambitious promotional effort represents a key component of the ministry's comprehensive "2025 Hanbok Wave" initiative, which has been specifically designed to increase global awareness and appreciation of traditional Korean clothing while simultaneously providing crucial support to local artisans and craftspeople who create these beautiful garments. The campaign aims to position hanbok as both a symbol of Korean cultural heritage and a relevant fashion choice for modern consumers worldwide.
Since 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, working in partnership with the Korea Craft and Design Foundation, has strategically selected high-profile celebrity hanbok ambassadors each year to maximize the cultural impact of their promotion efforts. Previous ambassadors have included acclaimed actor Kim Tae-ri who served in 2024, popular actor and singer Suzy in 2023, Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yuna in 2022, and K-pop groups Brave Girls and DKB who jointly represented the initiative in 2021. Park Bo-gum's appointment continues this tradition of leveraging South Korea's most internationally recognized entertainment figures to promote traditional Korean culture on the global stage.
