Despite the gentle rain, the exhibition hall at Old Billingsgate Market in London was busy with fans who came to get a glimpse of their K-pop stars. They came to see K-pop related exhibitions and a live performance by 2NE1, a girl band and the honorary ambassadors for the Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo 2013 held between November 4 and 6.

“I’ve been a fan for 2NE1 for three years,” said 16-year-old Josh Norton. “I came to see their opening concert at the expo.”

When the 2NE1 concert began, the exhibition hall heated up with enthusiastic fans. The British broadcaster BBC televised the event live.

 

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Fans hold up a picture of Big Bang’s G-Dragon at the Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo 2013. (photo courtesy of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency)

 

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Fans look around the promotional booth for girl band 2NE1. (photo courtesy of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency) 

 

The event was a chance to promote not only K-pop related material but also Korean drama, animation, games, design, food, fashion and media arts, all part of the effort to develop the creative industries through a conversion of traditional industry and modern cultural products.

At the K-pop live hall there was a very popular hologram of PSY and other dancers doing his horse-riding “Gangnam Style” dance. The hologram was the work of d’strict, a Seoul-based 4D contents-maker. As for animation, the Korean cartoons “Larva,” “Robocar Poli” and “Cloud Bread” all had display booths. Finally, a more natural design was on display, too. Hwang Ji-hye, a winner of Britain’s Chelsea Flower Show, created her “Korean Garden” exhibition to show the more environmentally-themed side of Korean design. 

 

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Fans flock to the Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo. (photo courtesy of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency)

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Business negotiations are underway at the Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo. Some 50 Korean companies and 250 European firms took part in the fair. (photo courtesy of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency) 

 

In addition, some 50 Korean firms involved in information technology, animation, restaurant franchises or other cultural content held one-on-one meetings with some 250 European firms and broadcasters, such as British retailer TESCO and TV broadcaster Channel 5, France’s Canal+ and Germany’s game channel ProSieben Sat. 1 Games.

Iconix Entertainment, known for its cartoon “Pororo The Little Penguin,” signed a contract with MTV3, a Finnish broadcaster. The d’strict hologram-maker penned a deal with the Groninger Forum of the Netherlands to help set up a digital museum. The Groninger Forum will install d’strict’s holograms in one of its media platforms to be built in the plaza of a Dutch city partially destroyed during World War II.

“This was a chance to promote Korean culture by communicating with young Europeans and media outlets,” said Oh Young-ho, CEO of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. 

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Pop band 2NE1 performs at the Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo. (photo courtesy of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency) 

 

[Source: Korea.net]