The "Inkigayo in Paris" concert held in Paris on June 17KOCCA
A Korean culture expo in Paris drew more than 36,000 visitors to the city last week, the Korea Creative Content Agency (Kocca) said Tuesday.
The "K-Expo France: All about K-Culture" was held from June 16 to Friday at the Palais des Congrès and a nearby hotel, pairing a public exhibition with an export fair in celebration of the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France.
Seventy-four Korean firms joined the exhibition in the content, technology, beauty and food categories. The agency said it generated 575 export consultations worth $52 million and 26 business agreements.
The K-Expo France also featured a special "Inkigayo in Paris" concert, named after the long-running SBS K-pop program of the same name. The special concert, held last Wednesday, featured SHINee's Taemin, boy band Monsta X and NCT Wish alongside girl group Hearts2Hearts performing on stage, which brought 3,500 fans together.
Singer Stella Jang also performed the French classic "Les Champs-Élysées" (1969), with Korean and French audience members singing along together.
Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young, center, tours the exhibition hall and speaks with representatives of participating companies at the 2026 K-EXPO France in Paris.KOCCA
The Paris edition followed the K-Expo USA event in May that drew more than 40,000 visitors. Kocca, which runs K-Expo under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the next one is set for Mexico City in September.
"The Paris event confirmed the strong interest among European audiences in K-culture as a whole, led by content and extending to beauty and food," said Kocca president Kim Yun-ji.
"Kocca will continue to help content and its related industries expand abroad together, and actively support Korean companies in strengthening their global competitiveness."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
