Kia expands 'Green Travel' program into arts with concert for 3,000

Kia is expanding its disability travel support program "Green Travel" into the arts, most recently hosting a mobile concert attended by about 3,000 people, including roughly 1,400 with developmental disabilities.

The automaker announced Wednesday that it held the second edition of "Traveling Melodies: Green Travel × Run Piano" on Tuesday at the National Folk Museum of Korea in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Run Piano is a mobile concert series led by Seoul National University Professor Park Jong-hwa, a pianist. Rather than asking audiences to come to a fixed venue, the series brings classical performances directly to streets, parks and other public spaces.

Kia has been collaborating with Run Piano to extend its Green Travel program — which has long focused on helping people with disabilities get around — into cultural and artistic experiences.

The event, themed "Together as One Through Art," was held alongside the Seoul Developmental Disabilities Painting Competition. It drew a larger crowd than the first concert, held at Boramae Park in Seoul in June, with about 3,000 attendees including roughly 1,400 people with developmental disabilities.

Performers included Professor Park, singer Hwang Woo-rim and percussionist Kim Ji-hye. National Assembly member Kim Ye-ji, a visually impaired pianist, made a special appearance and performed Schumann-Liszt's "Widmung."

Organizers designed the event with accessibility in mind. Most of the venue was kept on level ground to allow easy movement for wheelchair users, and simple language was used throughout so that people with developmental disabilities could follow along. After the event, volunteers from NGOs and local welfare organizations helped attendees travel home.

Kia plans to hold the final Green Travel × Run Piano concert of the year in October at the outdoor waterfront stage at Olympic Park, under the theme "A Stage of Joyful Harmony and Comfort."

Green Travel is a disability mobility support program Kia launched in 2012. It lends specially modified vehicles free of charge to help people with disabilities travel.

The program currently operates 30 vehicles across eight regions nationwide — 18 Carnival vans, eight PV5 Passenger vehicles and four PV5 WAV models for wheelchair users. Since its launch 15 years ago, the program has served more than 110,000 people.

The program's scope is also growing. On Sept. 15, Kia signed an agreement with the Korea National Forest Service to launch "Green Travel Forest Healing Trips," which provides people with disabilities a vehicle, travel expenses and accommodation together.

"Green Travel has long supported the freedom of movement and travel for people with disabilities, and it is deeply meaningful to now extend that support into the realm of culture and the arts through this concert," said Jeong Eui-cheol, Kia's executive vice president of corporate strategy. "We will continue working with various organizations and partners to build an inclusive society where everyone — regardless of disability — can enjoy culture and the arts in their daily lives."

Meanwhile, Kia is also expanding its lineup of electrified commercial vehicles. This month, at IAA Transportation 2026 in Hanover, Germany, the company gave the PV7 — a large electrified purpose-built vehicle — its global debut.