Seoul Has a New “Syndrome” And Karina, Winter & RIIZE Are Spreading It

Seoul is putting K-POP at the center of its next global tourism push. The city has tapped aespa's Karina and Winter, along with boy group RIIZE, to headline a new campaign built around Seoul's food, beauty, nightlife and K-culture.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Organization announced that the three acts have been named honorary ambassadors for Seoul tourism this year. Their global campaign, "Absolutely in Seoul," launches on Sept. 23.

The concept driving the campaign is what the city calls "Seoul Syndrome," meaning the feeling travelers get after visiting Seoul, when they find themselves missing the daily life and culture they experienced and want to come back.

The main campaign video follows that idea. It opens with a mock news broadcast reporting that "Seoul Syndrome" is spreading across cities around the world. From there, figures pulled out of an old painting of Korean immortals appear in modern-day Seoul, and the story takes off. Karina, Winter and the members of RIIZE each appear as modern-day immortals with their own mysterious powers.

As they travel through the city, food gets more addictive with every bite, ordinary moments start to feel like scenes from a K-drama, and the line between day and night disappears. Seoul's food, beauty scene, night tourism and K-culture are all presented in a fantasy style.

The rollout starts with a teaser on Sept. 23, followed by a total of nine videos posted sequentially on the Visit Seoul YouTube channel and social media accounts.

Fans have ways to get involved, too. A "voice quiz" asks players to listen to Karina, Winter and RIIZE members speaking at the same time and figure out which Seoul nighttime spot they are naming together. Campaign merchandise is also on the way. Starting in mid-October, fans who visit major Seoul tourist information centers and the Seoul My Soul Shop and complete a short mission can receive artist posters and photocards made for the campaign.

The campaign will run outside South Korea as well. Starting in October, the video will play on outdoor screens in major overseas cities, including New York's Times Square. It will also air on CNN in more than 133 countries.

Seoul's decision to build the push around K-POP stars comes as foreign tourism to the city continues to rebound. From January through July this year, 9.83 million foreign visitors came to Seoul, up 21.3 percent from the same period last year. July alone drew 1.61 million visitors, the highest monthly total on record.

"For foreign travelers who come to Seoul, it's important that they remember it as a city they want to visit again," said Kim Byung-min, chief executive of the Seoul Tourism Organization. "We want to make Seoul a city where visitors feel they didn't get to see everything and want to come back."

He added, "The goal is for Seoul to be remembered as a city where people want to live like a local, and ultimately as a city they want to actually live in at least once."

With foreign arrivals hitting record highs and K-POP's reach still expanding, Seoul is using the global popularity of K-POP to promote the city as a destination in its own right.