The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Choi Hwi-young) announced Wednesday that it will host "K-EXPO USA 2026" in Los Angeles from May 23 to 27, jointly with related agencies including the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Minister Song Mi-ryung), the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister Hwang Jong-woo), the Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Jung Eun-kyeong), and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Han Seong-sook). First Vice Minister Kim Young-soo of the culture ministry will personally visit the exhibition site to promote K-culture and encourage participants.
According to the ministry, the upcoming K-EXPO will feature major K-culture companies in content and food, along with artificial intelligence (AI) content firms, participating in consumer exhibitions to showcase the cutting-edge technology and latest trends of K-culture.
Netflix will operate a lounge displaying food products that utilize Netflix intellectual property (IP), in addition to exhibits of Korean creative works and images of Korean pop culture artists. The Korea Football Association will run an exhibition hall themed around the South Korean men's national football team. Naver Webtoon will create a fusion exhibition space featuring webtoon content centered on food and beauty themes. Other offerings include Nongshim's food brand pavilion and Jung Saem Mool Beauty's cosmetics experience zone, as well as new technology-fused content such as screenings of Korean AI content videos and a K-pop dance challenge using AI technology.
In addition, food trucks and tasting events run by food franchises such as BBQ will be available, along with cooking events featuring renowned chef Song Hoon, a judge on "MasterChef Korea" who also appeared on "Culinary Class Wars," and Korean cuisine ambassador actor Ryu Soo-young. These events will allow visitors to experience K-food made with gim (Korean seaweed), which is popular in the U.S., including halibut gimbap and halibut tacos.
On May 24, singer Jay Park, multinational K-pop group P1Harmony, and rookie K-pop group LNGSHOT will deliver spectacular performances. On May 26 and 27, export consultations involving 63 content and beauty companies will also take place.
K-EXPO is a comprehensive Hallyu exhibition that travels around the world to support the joint overseas expansion of K-culture companies in content, food, beauty, and tourism, encompassing consumer events as well as business-to-business export consultations and briefings. It was launched in 2022.
The ministry noted that this exhibition carries particular significance as it will be held in Los Angeles, the global hub of the entertainment industry, at a time when the world's attention is focused on the United States ahead of the North and Central American World Cup. Ahead of the exhibition, the Los Angeles City Council held a proclamation ceremony on May 8 designating the K-EXPO as an official city event of Los Angeles, demonstrating strong local interest in K-culture.
"Through cooperation among related ministries, we will continue to provide multifaceted support so that K-culture companies can further expand into the North American market," Vice Minister Kim Young-soo of the culture ministry said.
