KT&G Vice President Lee Sang-hak, right, holds an agreement with Mapo-gu Office chief Yoo Dong-gyun after inking a contract to cooperate for the revitalization of the Hongdae culture and art tourism zone on March 3. Photo courtesy of KT&G

Two outfits will cooperate to reinvigorate Hongdae Culture and Arts

South Korea’s foremost tobacco manufacturer KT&G announced on March 4 that it had inked a memorandum of understanding with Mapo-gu Office in Seoul.

Under the agreement, the two outfits will collaborate to reinvigorate the Hongdae Cultural Arts Special Tourism Zone, which has been negatively affected by the lingering novel coronavirus.

Hongdae Festival Street, located in the Hongdae Cultural Arts Special Tourism Zone, was established last June around KT&G Sangsangmadang Hongdae with an area of 2,800 square meters.

Mapo-gu Office came up with a strategy of taking advantage of Hongdae Festival Street as a cultural space that hosts year-round events like culture, art, and festivals.

KT&G, which is headed by CEO Baek Bok-in, noted that it intended to actively promote it through this partnership.

Topping other things off, KT&G plans to revitalize Hongdae Festival Street by assisting local cultural and creative endeavors.

If a local cultural and artistic group wants to perform on the Hongdae Festival Street, the company will supply Sangsangmadang Hongdae with facilities, space, and staff, according to the company.

KT&G said that numerous programs involving the so-called Generation MZ were being developed.

Generation MZ is South Korea’s unique term referring to millennials and Generation Z, who were born between 1980 and 1995.

At Hongdae Festival Street, “Busking Audition,” an artist discovery project for emerging musicians, and “Street Microphone,” which invites celebrities from the fields of culture and art to speak in outdoor lectures, will be introduced.

“It is significant that KT&G Sangsangmadang Hongdae, which has been consistently promoting and discovering new artists to revitalize the festival street in Hongdae, the birthplace of indie culture, is joining this partnership,” KT&G Social Contribution Office chief Shim Young-ah said.

“Through active communication and exchange with Mapo-gu Office, we will do all possible to encourage the creative activities of various artists on the festival street.”
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