KOREAN NET

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

Photos and video = Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Season 2 of the reality competition show "Star K-influencer Boot Camp" will premiere on Nov. 3.

Created by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, this original series features a competition in which K-influencers, who promote Korea through social media content, show off their capacity and talents. Season 1 on YouTube attracted over three million views, attesting to the show's popularity.

Season 2 shows Korea-based K-influencers from Sept. 27-28 getting the opportunity to raise their capacities to create content and experience Korean culture. The programs include team content production, cultural experiences, mentoring to build capacity and networking with other participants.

Twelve contestants from nine countries completed their mission of producing video content in four themes: mat (taste, feel or pleasure), meot (stylishness, charm or elegance); mi (beauty); and jeong (love or affection) at the National Museum of Korea, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwangjang Market and Insa-dong, a tradition-themed street in downtown Seoul.

Contestants in Season 2 of "Star K-influencer Boot Camp" on Sept. 27 go over creating video content with a GoPro camera at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

The first day of the camp saw the participants experience digital immersive content at the museum to learn trends in fan merchandise by using replicas of historical relics at a souvenir shop. By doing so, they captured the elegance of the nation's fusion meot on video.

Next was a visit to Gyeongbokgung, which is filled with the mi of Korean history. The contestants pursuing their mission of finding historical sites in photos and visited Hyangwonjeong Pavilion, which preserves the beauty of nature.

Contestants in Season 2 of "Star K-influencer Boot Camp" on Sept. 27 discuss their mission at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul's Jongno-gu District after receiving a keyword on Korean mi (beauty).

Gwangjwang Market was the third destination of the day, a venue that frequently appears in Korean dramas and films. They experienced the mat of Korean food through their mission of finding and sampling cuisine introduced in Korean content and shooting a meokbang, aka mukbang, or a livestreamed video showing the host eating and interacting with viewers.

On the second day, they visited Insa-dong, a neighborhood brimming with traditional culture. In alleys connected to the main road like a maze, their mission was to find signboards in Hangeul (Korean alphabet) while shooting a video on the jeong of Korean.

The contestants of Season 2 of "Star K-influencer Boot Camp" pose for a group photo.

"I strongly wanted to join the program after watching last year's episodes," said Sanskriti Sachin Sabban, an Indian contestant with three years of K-influencer experience. "I loved the program as it had many challenging missions. This was a very fun program."

The six winners of the program's video creation section earned the title of "Star K-Influencer" -- three teams and three who won a special award.

Season 2 will be viewable from Nov. 3 on the YouTube channel "K-influencer" (https://www.youtube.com/@Kinfluencer).

dusrud21@korea.kr