By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) hosted the 2025 Seoul Hunters Festival at Seoul Plaza on Sept. 14 starting at 6 PM, highlighting the city as the backdrop of the globally acclaimed animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters for passionate fans from around the world.

Hosted by the entertaining emcees DinDin and Cho Hyun-young, the event featured a total of 10 Korean and international teams presenting cover performances inspired by the original soundtrack and choreography of K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Notably, the recently trending “Naebok Boy,” who reached over 9 million views on YouTube Shorts, also participated in the competition, drawing even more excitement.

Teams have been selected from across Asia, the Americas, and Europe. To widen participation, an online competition was held alongside the in-person event for contestants unable to travel to Seoul, further expanding global fandom engagement.

The competition was divided into dance and vocal categories with round battles using five key tracks from iconic scenes of K-Pop Demon Hunters. After all rounds, four teams (two each from dance and vocal categories) were selected as final winners based on judges’ scores and live audience response.