Last week, a South Korean task force brought pop music to underprivileged children in Indonesia as a sort of cultural welfare program.
From Jan. 11 to 16, a group of 120 adolescents in the district of Tigaraksa in Indonesia's Banten Province learned how to dance to K-pop with the help of a dozen South Korean college students. The students went through an eight week training course hosted by major K-pop record label YG Entertainment to become qualified instructors for the program.
On Saturday, the children performed for roughly 500 adults in their region.
This is the first Official Development Assistance program started by the planning body, whose mission it is to use new methods to further the influence and scope of Hallyu (the Korean Wave, or spread of Korean creative and cultural content) abroad while focusing on philanthropic endeavors.
In addition to the dance program, YG Entertainment artist and philanthropist Noh Seung Hwan (also known as Sean from the hip-hop duo Junisean), presented the children with a fund set up by fans of his label-mate T.O.P of the group Big Bang.
"Indonesia has one of the largest K-pop fan populations in Southeast Asia," said a South Korean culture ministry official on Jan. 11, as reported by Yonhap News. "This project, albeit small, will help expand the hallyu base there. We also plan to bring this program to other countries."
The task force was launched in 2015, and comprised of officials from six relevant government agencies, three from major TV networks (KBS, MBC, and SBS) and four from major entertainment agencies SM, JYP, YG, and CJ E&M.
During previous years, big name K-pop artists such as 2NE1 and SHINee have held concerts in Indonesia as part of world tours. Most recently, SM Entertainment's male group Super Junior traveled to the country as part of their Super Show 6 tour.
