Sawt Falasteen - South Korea names K-pop group NewJeans tourism ambassadors

South Korea has seen tourism figures recover to nearly pre-pandemic levels this year, with around a third of visitors citing K-pop or K-drama -- the so-called "Hallyu" or Korean wave -- as a major motive for travelling to the East Asian country.

"We are very happy to be appointed as an ambassador to promote South Korean tourism today," band member Minji said, adding it would be a "great joy" for the supergroup to promote their country's charms.

Tourist arrivals are at "about 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels," said culture minister Yu In-chon.

"With NewJeans as tourism ambassadors, I expect even more people from all over the world to visit Korea," he added.

The group will serve as ambassadors with no actual diplomatic responsibilities for a year, succeeding previous representatives such as "Squid Game" star and Emmy-winner Lee Jung-jae and K-pop megastars BTS.

Members of the band shared their personal recommendations for visitors, including eating "gimbap dipped in tteokbokki sauce" and taking "a photo a day", which is an "unspoken rule among young Korean generations".

Haerin said she recommended tourists to visit a hanok -- or traditional Korean house -- while Hanni urged visitors to embrace Korean cuisine.

"You have to eat Korean food when you come to Korea, and since it's summer and the weather is hot, if you eat food like samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) or mul-naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles), you'll be able to enjoy it a lot," she said.

More than 11 million tourists visited South Korea last year, a 245 percent increase compared to 2022, when some pandemic restrictions were still in force.

Chinese and Japanese tourists made up the majority of the visitors.

NewJeans recently held their first fan meet at the Tokyo Dome, less than two years after their debut -- the fastest Tokyo Dome debut for any foreign artist. Tickets were sold out in minutes.

The group's Japanese debut single "Supernatural" sold over a million copies as of Thursday, marking their fifth million-seller.

W.Mansour--SF-PST