Seoul Metropolitan Government To Expand K-Pop Dance Classes For Foreign Visitors To Boost Tourism In The City

by Diana Tomale / Nov 04, 2015 09:19 PM EST

Seoul to run K-pop dance classes exclusively for foreign tourists. (Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)

Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) partners with SM Entertainment to run K-pop dance classes which will be offered to foreign visitors in South Korea's capital city. The expansion of its current K-pop dance classes aims to boost the tourism in the city, as noted by Korea Times Oct. 15.

SMG reportedly plans to start the expansion next year in the hopes that more hallyu fans will flock the city to take the K-pop dance lessons.

"According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the number of active members registered with hallyu fan clubs worldwide topped 3 million in 2011 and reached 9.3 million in 2013," an official said.

In addition, the move also aims to offer tourists with varieties of hands-on experiences of Korean culture, thus, enticing more of them to visit Seoul, Yonhap News Agency noted on the same day.

Reports revealed that professional dancers affiliated with SM Entertainment will run the K-pop dance classes exclusively for foreign visitors. According to SMG and SM Entertainment, K-pop dance lessons will be opened for tourists on Mondays and Tuesdays at SM Town.

SMG also revealed that more than 800 hallyu fans from different countries already enrolled for K-pop dance classes since the project was initiated in August.

"The government will form a joint committee with private entities to maximize the hallyu, through which we will be able to create more jobs and to boost the quality of the tourism industry," said Seoul Mayor Park Won Soon.

"More experience-based programs will be available, such as K-pop vocal classes and Korean language classes with Korean soap operas."

Further reports revealed that Mayor Park met chief executives from six start-up firms and discussed about attracting more tourists to visit the city.

"Tourism is an important industry for economic growth and youth employment because the number of tourists to Korea is growing every year," Park said. "SMG will closely discuss and cooperate with private companies to develop tourism in the city and actively support startup companies with strong technologies and fresh ideas."