DAEJEON — K-culture will fill the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, this September.
The city of Cheonan said on the 21st that the 2026 Cheonan K-Culture Expo, now in its fourth year, will run for five days from Sept. 2 to 6 at sites around the Independence Hall of Korea, under the theme "K-Culture Stands at the Center of the World."
The event is co-hosted by the city of Cheonan, the Independence Hall of Korea and the Cheonan Cultural Foundation, with a total budget of 4.1 billion won ($3 million). Centered on three major industries — K-food, K-webtoon and K-pop — it will greatly expand hands-on offerings for visitors.
This year's industry exhibition has been narrowed to three areas — K-food, K-webtoon and K-pop — to sharpen the focus of the displays.
The K-food pavilion will introduce traditional fermented foods and offer overseas export consultations in partnership with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). Spanning traditional fermented foods, which form the foundation of K-food, through the future of food culture, the pavilion will highlight the growth potential of K-food by featuring companies leading the way in sustainable food and eco-friendly production. It will present participatory displays using hands-on activities and media content so that visitors can intuitively grasp the value of traditional food culture and its link to the modern K-food industry.
The K-webtoon pavilion will hold artist live drawing shows and character performances in cooperation with the Chungnam Content Agency. The live drawing show is an on-site participatory program in which a webtoon artist's real-time drawing process is broadcast on a large screen, along with work introductions, artist interviews and audience Q&A sessions. In the character performances, a professional performance team dressed as characters from video, webtoons and games will roam key spaces at the venue for photos and interaction with visitors.
A "robot arm caricature" program will photograph and analyze visitors' faces, have a robotic arm draw a caricature and hand over the finished work. There will also be an artist exchange booth where webtoon artists introduce their work and characters in person and hold signing sessions, conversations with visitors, and displays and sales of merchandise.
The K-pop pop-up pavilion will feature an "AI Idol Experience Zone," an immersive space that applies artificial intelligence so that visitors can go through the process of an idol debut themselves. It will be offered in three languages — English, Chinese and Japanese — for global visitors. A "Goods Creation Zone" will also be set up, where visitors use the character and album images generated through the AI experience to complete physical K-pop merchandise.
A themed exhibition, set up around the Bridge of Independence, will recreate scenes of the spread of the Korean Wave in major overseas cities such as Paris, New York and Bangkok. To mark the 150th anniversary in 2026 of the birth of Kim Koo, designated by UNESCO, a special photo zone will be newly created that links the historical significance of the Independence Hall of Korea with the cultural value of K-culture. In the themed exhibition area on the Bridge of Independence, a sculpture depicting Kim Koo's face and lines from his signature writing "My Wish" will be installed so that visitors can take commemorative photos.
A variety of performances and side events will follow. The lineup begins on the 2nd with an opening ceremony celebration performance by Davichi, ALPHA DRIVE ONE and RESCENE, followed by a drone show, then a K-Rock concert (10CM and YB) on the 3rd and a K-OST concert (the Cheonan City Symphony Orchestra, Kim Na-young, MeloMance and K.Will) on the 4th.
On the 5th, a live public broadcast of SBS Radio's "Two O'Clock Escape Cultwo Show" will be held on the main stage, featuring host Kim Tae-kyun and special host Soyou, along with Kim Jae-joong, Lee Chang-sub, Ha Sung-woon, HYNN (Park Hye-won) and KISS OF LIFE.
For family visitors, there will be the children's musical "Secret Jouju" and a "Twinkle Twinkle Moon" sing-along show. A "Ramen and Ice Cream Festa" in partnership with Nongshim and Lotte Wellfood, as well as the South Chungcheong Food Industry Expo, will also be held.
Discount coupons to encourage spending will be issued in connection with certified quality shops for Cheonan bread and walnut cakes, and payment by the Culture Nuri Card and the Cheonan Love Card will be accepted to improve visitor convenience and spur spending at local businesses. A total of 292 volunteers across 11 areas will be stationed at the venue to help guide visitors.
Cheonan Mayor Jang Ki-soo said the focus was placed "on a comprehensive cultural event that citizens experience directly and that grows together with the region, rather than on scale," adding that it "will establish itself as a comprehensive K-culture cultural event representing South Korea."
