Seoul to utilize SNS to promote city

By Yi Whan-woo

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The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday it will use social networking services (SNS) to promote Korean foods and up-to-date fashions of Seoulites to K-Pop fans around the world.

The city will run a competition for expatriates and people overseas in which they post photos or clips of themselves wearing Korean-made cosmetics on their individual SNS accounts until Feb. 10. The participants can then link their site on the city's event website and leave some comments. Six will be selected to visit Seoul to experience celebrity make-up sessions and attend private parties.

Aiming to bolster tourism in the Korean capital among the younger generation across the globe the event hopes to tap into the rise of hallyu or the Korean wave, including dramas in which a number of scenes were filmed in the city.

Three web addresses are available for more information depending on the region where the participants are from. Those from the Americas and Europe can visit www.facebook.com/hiseoul. For fans from Japan, the address is japanese.seoul.go.kr, while people from China can click on www.weibo.com/seoulblogger.

This is the biggest online event ever arranged by Seoul to promote the city worldwide.

"Foreigners are showing a greater interest in Korea thanks to hallyu", a Seoul Metropolitan Government official said. "We'll continue to run similar kinds of events using SNS to highlight Korea's allure to the world".