Korean Wave 'Hallyu' Arrives in Wellington

Korea and New Zealand share a strong friendship spanning 50 years, which will be celebrated in Wellington this Friday, 8 June, at Sounds of Friendship, a special performance by GongMyoung and Gorilla Crew.

GongMyoung, a Korean percussion group with passion for music, and Gorilla Crew, a popular B-Boy group, are part of the Korean Cultural Wave, Hallyu, which is becoming increasingly influential across Asia and worldwide.  Sounds of Friendship features two elements of the Korean Wave, music and dance, but the Korean Wave also includes a wide range of cultural assets such as K-pop, film, fashion, television dramas and cuisine.

Designated as the Korea-New Zealand Year of Friendship, 2012 features a series of public events throughout New Zealand to celebrate the strong ties of friendship between the two countries.  Sounds of Friendship is the first in this series of public events, which will be officially opened in Wellington.

Audiences have praised the successful performances by GongMyoung and Gorilla Crew in Auckland on Sunday 2 June and Christchurch on Tuesday 5 June. Tickets free of charge for the general public and invited guests have been sold-out for all the performances, including the final performance in Wellington at 6:15pm this Friday at the Michael Fowler Centre.