By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo

The 6th International Diplomatic and Cultural PR Ambassadors Hanbok Festival will be held on October 15 at 5:30 p.m. The International Diplomatic and Cultural PR Ambassadors Hanbok Festival, a representative solo fashion show of “Hanbok Good Day”, is an extension of the “International Diplomatic and Cultural PR Ambassadors Selection Contest”, which was successfully held in April 2022, 2023, 2024, starting with the “Hanbok Good Day Fashion Show with Ambassadors” held twice in 2021. 

“The October 2024 event, in particular, is designed to impress the audience with more colorful and beautiful Hanbok costumes,” said Kim Kwang-ja, CEO of Hanbok Good Day.

The main concept of the event is to celebrate Gyeongju's bid to host the 2025 APEC Summit, with the motif of Silla, Gyeongju's ancient capital, and the costumes will reflect the grandeur and splendor of Silla, the 'millennial capital' of Korea, through the queen's ornaments and full-size gold crowns unearthed during tomb excavations.

As in April 2024, this event will feature costumes created in collaboration between Hanbok designer Kim Kwang-ja and Korean pattern master Kim Nam-tae, a professor of industrial field.

(Part 1)
As a fashion show featuring Hanbok from the original series of “Hanbok Good Day,” the event will showcase traditional hanbok as well as women's durumagi (traditional Korean overcoats), skirts, and fusion court dresses created in collaboration between designer Kim Kwang-ja and pattern professor Kim Nam-tae. 

In particular, the women's durumagi (traditional Korean overcoats) belonging to the first part of the fashion show are available in two designs, a slim-fit design with a pointed front cover like the toe of a padded sock and a heart line that adds a touch of elegance, and are finished with two-button cuffed sleeves.

(National Dress Show)
“The “National Dress Show”, which reflects the characteristic of the event, is attended by major guests from each country at each event of “Hanbok Good Day.” It is a fashion show in which major foreign guests, such as ambassadors and deputy ambassadors, wear traditional clothing of their respective countries or Hanbok, and serves as a place to showcase and communicate the culture of each country through the medium of clothing.

In particular, at the April 2024 event, children from Seondeokwon, a child protection organization sponsored by the event, walked the runway with ambassadors and ambassadors' spouses in hanbok during the “National Dress Show,” creating a more meaningful stage, and the children from Seondeokwon will also grace the stage of the National Dress Show at the October event.

(Part 2)
The second part of “Hanbok Good Day” is a very special sequence where you can see the new hanbok fashion show, which is a collaboration between designer Kim Kwang-ja, the CEO of Hanbok Good Day, and Professor Kim Nam-tae, a hanbok pattern master.

This is a very special event to see the costumes of the kings, queens and nobles of Silla, which is the main concept of the event.

In particular, the second part of the show is expected to arouse the admiration of the wearers as well as the viewers by using colorful gold crowns, decorations, and beautiful and luxurious embroidery on the costumes with the motif of Queen Seondeok in the Silla period. 

On June 27, Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, was selected as the host city for the 32nd APEC Summit in 2025, which will be attended by leaders from 21 countries.

The 2025 APEC Summit, which will be held 20 years after the last one in Busan in 2005, will be the largest international diplomatic event since the inauguration of the President Yoon Suk-yeol administration.