HiKR Ground opened as 'immersive' tourism promotion center

HiKR Ground, a tourism promotion center offering immersive experiences and information on Hallyu content and tourist destinations in Korea for the MZ generation, was opened on July 22.

The five-story venue is located at the Seoul Center of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) on Cheonggyecheon-ro Street in the city's Jung-gu District.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KTO renovated the former tourism promotion center K-Style Hub for over a year, replacing it with HiKR Ground.

Combining the terms "HiKR," a greeting from Korea (KR) to tourists from all over the world, and "ground" from the word "playground," the center's name refers to a space welcoming visitors and allowing them freely enjoy themselves.

The center targets young tourists from the MZ generation, or those born in the 1980s through 2000s, to allow them to experience Korean pop culture, festivals and the charms of tourism in Korea through immersive interactive content combining sectors such as smart technology, Hallyu and art.

The first floor features the large media mural "HiKR Wall." There, media artist Lee Lee Nam presents video content on Korean tourism and Hallyu including "New City Sansudo," themed after five major tourist hubs such as Mokpo, Jeollanam-do Province, and Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province.

On the second floor is K-Pop Ground, which offers an interactive experience centered on K-pop. At My Stage, visitors can plan, direct and shoot their own music videos using special effects, including more than 100 virtual backgrounds created with extended reality technology.

The third floor is home to the HiKR Art Museum, which hosts exhibitions of works by major Korean artists that reinterpret leading content in Korean tourism.

The fourth floor features a multi-interactive center and the space HiKR Cave, which offers "wellness" tourism using all five human senses through content incorporating video, sound, lighting and scent.

On the fifth floor, the HiKR Lounge provides tourist information services in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese as well as a rest area and terrace overlooking Cheonggyecheon Stream.