100 tourists from 20 countries beat 23-to-1 odds to collect 'sounds of Korea' with Park Bo-gum

An effort to push tourism in Korea beyond landmark sightseeing and into the realm of sound and everyday experience unfolded in the heart of Seoul on Friday. About 100 foreign tourists from 20 countries, selected from a pool of more than 2,300 applicants, spent the day with actor Park Bo-gum collecting and listening to sounds from in and around a royal palace.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization held the "Korea Sound Journey" event at Changgyeonggung Palace and the nearby hanok Hwiggyeomjae in Seoul on Friday, bringing together roughly 100 foreign visitors to listen to and record the sounds of Korea alongside Park, who serves as honorary ambassador for Korean tourism.

The event was designed to translate the message of "Begin to Hear Korea," a 2026 overseas tourism promotional video released in July, into a real travel experience. The video moves beyond sight-centered tourism to convey the appeal of Korea as a place to hear and feel, following Park — now in his second consecutive year as honorary tourism ambassador — and a Danish musician as they travel across Korea in search of its sounds.

Participants came from more than 20 countries, including major inbound tourism markets such as China, Japan, the United States and Thailand, and included global influencers among the roughly 100 attendees. They were chosen from more than 2,300 people who had taken part in a "Sound Quiz: Where in Korea?" event held on the Korea Tourism Organization's YouTube channel, Visit Korea. Having first encountered the sounds of Korea through the video and quiz, participants visited Changgyeonggung Palace in person on Friday to listen closely to the atmosphere of the palace grounds and the sounds of everyday life, experiencing Korea in a new way.

In the first segment, "Sound Walking," participants split into eight groups and walked through Changgyeonggung Palace with sound-collection experts, recording and listening to the sounds of Korea firsthand. Ten foreign influencers also took part and plan to produce and share social media content capturing their on-site experience to introduce Korea as a destination experienced through sound.

The second segment, "Sound Talk and Share," took place at Hwiggyeomjae, a hanok near Changgyeonggung. Park and the foreign participants gathered to listen back to the sounds collected in the first segment through a "sound quiz," then took part in a range of activities including a Korean tourism-themed balance game with Park and a conversation about behind-the-scenes stories from the filming of the tourism promotional video.

Korea Tourism Organization President Park Seong-hyeok said the event was organized so that foreign participants could experience firsthand — with their own eyes and ears — the everyday life and sensibility of Korea conveyed through this year's overseas tourism promotional video. "We will continue to offer new travel experiences that go one step further than simply seeing a destination, allowing visitors to directly experience and remember the sounds, atmosphere and daily lives of Korea," he said.