K-pop: Moroccan Talents Take Over the 2022 Korea Culture Festival

Rabat – With Korean culture and music gaining ground in Morocco, youth in the North African country are becoming more eager to dive deep into the Hallyu wave while exploring their talents in dancing, singing, and rapping.

This year, the Korean Embassy in Morocco hosted the second edition of the “Korea Culture Festival” on June 12 and 13 in Rabat, which saw the attendance of more than 500 K-wave enthusiasts.

The cultural event featured the most awaited “K-pop World Festival” and the “Quiz on Korea,” two international events that aim to bring foreigners closer to the Hallyu wave by giving them a platform to showcase their talents.

The preliminary round of both competitions were previously held through online video submission. In total, five vocalists, six dance teams, and 20 finalists at the quiz were selected for the in-person competition.

The top three winners from each contest will be qualified to represent Morocco in the final round, which will be held in September in Changwon and Seoul, the embassy said in a press release.

The Moroccan winners will compete against successful candidates from other countries.

This year’s contests are especially significant as they coincide with Morocco and Korea celebrating their 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

With this year being a landmark in Morocco-Korea relations, embassies in both countries organized an array of events and initiatives aimed at engaging Moroccan and Korean communities and highlighting the strategic relations between the two nations.

In celebration of the landmark anniversary of diplomatic ties, the Korean embassy will be hosting a taekwondo performance featuring K-tigers (K-pop + Taekwando) at Rabat’s Mohammed V theater on July 29.

Youngsters found their talent after becoming K-pop fans

With dancing being a trademark of the K-pop industry, many young enthusiasts of the musical genre use such contests to show off their moves and win more fans.

The group “Midnight” was among the winners in the dance category. Speaking to Morocco World News, the group’s leader Reda said, “We look forward to always delivering the best [performances].”

Reda, who goes by the stage name of “Silver,” highlighted that this is their third time winning the competition at the national level. He added, however, the competition at the international level was so fierce that they didn’t get to attend the finals in Changwon.

“As a team that engraved its name in the K-pop industry in our country, we are overly filled with joy and happiness as we got to add this year’s win to our list. We are proud of ourselves,” he said.

Other winners are Hajar Chalh (vocal category) and Mi Naah (group performance).

Meanwhile, the three participants who clinched the top ranking in this year’s “Quiz on Korea” competition are Samahe El Hajhouj, Souhaila Tribak, and Houda Rgana.

Wiam Sengraoui, one of the participants who was among the 20 finalists in the “Quiz on Korea 2022” category, told Morocco World News that being able to meet like-minded people with the same interests and enthusiasm motivated her even more to make progress in learning the Korean language.

Despite not making it to the top 3 of the “Quiz on Korea 2022” contest, Sengraoui is more determined to carry on her learning journey. As she prepares to once again participate in the contest next year, her aim is to be among the Moroccan representatives who will clinch a spot in the final competition.

Currently a second year student at Morocco’s National School of Business and Management (ENCG) in Kenitra, Wiam said her passion for Asian culture – and Korean more specifically – started at a young age.

“I started learning Korean two years ago, the beauty of this language made me curious to search more about it and about the Korean peninsula. I eventually became interested in its history too,” she said.

Determined to pursue her dream of one day winning the competition, the 18-year-old said that her hope is to eventually get to represent Morocco in international Korean speaking contests and contribute to the cultural exchange between youth from the two nations.

Wiam opened up about the challenges she faced when studying Korean on her own, stressing, “At first it was difficult due to lack of study materials, but my ambitions took over. I once took the online classes of Sungkyunkwan University, the experience was enriching and I can’t wait to be enrolled in Korean classes within ENCG-K next year.”