Filipino, Korean Talents Spice Up 2021 Philippines-Korea Cultural Exchange

Both Filipinos and Koreans showed incredible talent, taking front and center at the recently-concluded 2021 Philippines-Korea Cultural Exchange (PhilKor Festival).

While this year's event was set online due to the restrictions in travel and in-person events, the event organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the United Korean Community Association, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts managed to gather more than 100,000 views through the Korean Cultural Center of the Philippines Youtube Channel and Facebook page where the event was streamed live.

This year marks the 30th year of celebrating friendship and promoting rich cultural exchange between Korea and the Philippines, commemorated by the PhilKor Festival in an aptly-named event "We Stand Together." The event aims to remind the attendees how the two countries work to stand again, hand-in-hand, in life after the pandemic - highlighted by the vivid artistic and cultural presentations from both nations.

Hosted by multimedia personality Sam Oh, SB19 member Justin, and Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, the viewers not only witnessed traditional culture on full display but also electrifying pop performances from YouTuber and singer Jin Ho Bae, dance diva Dasuri Choi, TikTok sensation Mona, the Baritone-Soprano tandem of Byeong-in Park and Rachelle Gerodias, and traditional performances courtesy of Tago and PWU Indayog Gong Ensemble.

Meanwhile, the rising P-Pop trailblazers 4th Impact, Alamat, and the global sensation SB19 showed the future of the Philippine pop music industry on the global stage.

To cap off the program, artists all performed the Korean song Evergreen tree, a virtual collaboration that shared hope and inspiration during these challenging times.

Aside from the performances, another anticipated part of the program was the announcement of the Talent Contest winners. Homies were named as the Dance Category Winner while Julles took the top prize as the Voice Category Winner.

Lastly, AESIR PH impressed the judges, leading to them bagging the Grand Winner award. The Grand Winner received P50,000 while winners for the Vocal and Dance categories received P30,000 each.