Girls' Generation Appear in Korean Cultural Guide for Foreigners

Prof. Seo Kyoung-duk (center) holds up a promotional pamphlet with foreign visitors and staff at the Yeosu Expo on Monday.

Girls' Generation feature in a new pamphlet promoting Korean culture produced by Seo Kyoung-duk, a PR expert and professor at Sungshin Women's University in Seoul. The guide provides information in English on the country's five key cultural assets -- the Korean alphabet (hangeul), traditional dress (hanbok), traditional houses (hanok), traditional cuisine (hansik) and traditional paper (hanji).

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"Amid the growing popularity of K-pop, I felt there was a need for more materials introducing Korean culture", Seo said. "We included the popular group Girls' Generation in the guide to draw the attention of fans around the world. We used environmentally-friendly paper and took special care with the design to make it something that people would want to keep".

The girl group's agency SM Entertainment said, "Now that Girls' Generation has participated in the production of this promotional guide, we will keep working to let the world know more about Korea".

Some 50,000 copies of the book have started being distributed to foreign visitors at the Yeosu Expo, which wraps up on Aug. 12, and 30,000 will be handed out in London next week during the Summer Games. Another 20,000 will be given away at leading universities around the world.