“Korean Style · Weifang Charm, A Meeting Between Mountains and Sea” Shandong Weifang Inbound Tourism Promotion Event Successfully Held in Seoul

According to Li Hao (李好)，the Korean representative of the China–Korea Sister City Exchange Program under CRI Shandong Channel, the Weifang (潍坊) Inbound Tourism Promotion Event (Seoul), themed “Korean Style · Weifang Charm（韩风潍韵）, A Meeting Between Mountains and Sea（山海相邀）,” was successfully held on November 24 at the Pullman Ambassador Hotel in Seoul. Hosted by the Weifang Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, this event marked Weifang’s first comprehensive city-branding campaign in South Korea. It aims to deepen cultural and tourism exchanges between China and South Korea, enhance the visibility and influence of Weifang—known as the “World Capital of Kites（世界风筝之都）”—in the Korean market, and inject fresh momentum into bilateral cooperation in culture and tourism.   The promotion event was attended by a delegation led by Gao Qiang (高强), Director of the Weifang Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism. The delegation comprised heads of cultural and tourism institutions, key cultural-tourism enterprises, intangible cultural heritage inheritors, and representatives from major travel agencies. More than one hundred guests participated, including representatives from the Seoul Metropolitan Council, the Seoul Tourism and Sports Bureau, other local government and cultural-tourism organizations, as well as major Korean travel agencies, airlines, cultural groups, and media outlets. Their presence made this event one of the largest and most prominent in-person exchanges in the China–Korea cultural and tourism sector this year.   In his remarks, the representative of the Weifang Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism noted that South Korea has long been one of Weifang’s most important international source markets and friendly partners. He emphasized that Weifang is not only world-renowned for its kites, but also a modern city with a long history, rich cultural heritage, and an exceptional living and business environment.   Weifang boasts abundant intangible cultural heritage, beautiful natural landscapes, distinctive Qilu traditions (齐鲁风情), and enjoys national recognition as both the “Land of Melons and Fruits (瓜果之乡)” and the “Land of Longevity (长寿之乡).” He extended a sincere invitation to Korean friends to visit Weifang and experience firsthand the city’s diverse charm—where mountains and sea beckon—and the cultural resonance embodied in the theme “Korean Style · Weifang Charm.”   Cultural Resonance Takes Center Stage as Intangible Heritage Builds a Bridge of Friendship This promotion event placed special emphasis on immersive cultural experiences and emotional resonance. One particularly memorable moment was a cross-border musical dialogue: Ma Rongsheng (马荣盛), an inheritor of the Chinese guqin (古琴) intangible cultural heritage, performed on stage alongside Cho Cheol-hyeon, a Korean daegeum artist. Their joint rendition of classic pieces blended the graceful melodies of traditional Chinese and Korean instruments, earning repeated applause from the audience. In addition, Weifang’s signature indoor kite performance (室内风筝表演) brought the vitality and creativity of the “Kite Capital (鸢都)” to the venue, offering onsite guests a unique and visually captivating artistic experience.   Outside the venue, the carefully arranged Weifang Intangible Cultural Heritage Market (潍坊非遗市集) also drew significant attention. Interactive demonstration areas, including kite-making and woodblock New Year print stamping (木板年画拓印), allowed attendees to experience Weifang’s exquisite traditional craftsmanship up close, while beautifully crafted cultural and creative products were highly favored. Many Korean travel operators stopped to engage and exchange ideas, noting that such tangible, hands-on cultural displays provide valuable inspiration for designing future in-depth cultural tourism itineraries.   Pragmatic Cooperation Drives the Market, Jointly Shaping a New Chapter in Cultural and Tourism Development During the promotion session, the organizers highlighted Weifang’s tourism routes, which integrate cultural experiences, ecological wellness (生态康养), kite culture, and rural leisure travel(乡村旅居), and introduced targeted tourism products for the Korean market, showcasing Weifang’s diverse appeal beyond its famous kites. To ensure practical cooperation, a signing ceremony was held on-site. Several Weifang cultural and tourism enterprises signed a series of cooperation agreements with Korean partners, covering areas such as mutual tourist flow, itinerary development, and market promotion. Both sides agreed to use this as a new starting point to integrate high-quality resources and jointly expand the market, a move expected to effectively attract more Korean tourists to visit Weifang for sightseeing and leisure.   In particular, Li Hao introduced Director Gao Qiang to several representative cases of sister-city exchanges between Shandong Province and South Korea this year. He noted that there has been extensive cooperation with Kangwon National University in Gangwon Province, South Korea, and that Chuncheon City—where the university’s main campus is located—is a sister city of Weifang. He suggested holding another cultural and tourism promotion event in Chuncheon, targeting Gangwon Province, to leverage the sister-city relationship to further deepen exchanges between the two sides, such as establishing sister-university partnerships between Weifang and Chuncheon and organizing mutual goodwill visits by delegations. Representatives from the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (China–Japan–South Korea), the Cultural Section of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Korea, the China National Tourist Office in Seoul, and the Shandong Provincial Representative Office in South Korea, among other relevant institutions, attended the event.    정현식 기자mountains promotion tourism promotion korean style korean market

2025.12.14. 20:28

Hyun-Jeong Kim, CEO of SPLabs, “Making full-fledged entry into global P2E with ‘Infinity Angel’”

 “We want to find a partner we can trust and work with. Starting with the global launch of ‘INFINITY ANGEL’ in September, we will also directly target P2E (Play to Earn) game market. We plan to build an ecosystem by bringing together several projects through ‘ONE PUNK’, a launchpad that will be introduced at the end of the year.”   Singapore-based blockchain consulting and platform company SPLabs woos Korean market. The company operates SPexchange and Wallet, a cryptocurrency exchange. Various blockchain projects such as Play to Earn (P2E), Move to Earn (M2E), and Travel to Earn (T2E) are also going on.     In particular, it will try to make a full-fledged entry into P2E game market, launching 'Infinity Angel' in the global market in September. P2E games such as 'Immortal Wars' and 'Aqua Pnix' are also planned to be sequentially released. The company has already gained experience by participating in P2E projects of several partners in the Southeast Asian market. In the second half of the year, beta service of the T2E service 'AIR TNT' will be conducted following the M2E service 'Stepwatch'. It is also planning to launch the launchpad 'One Punk' at the end of this year and the metaverse 'Eureka' in the first half of next year.   Hyun-Jung Kim, CEO of SPLabs, said, “we worked as a partner in P2E projects such as 'Faraland' and 'Bemil', and enter directly into the market with 'Infinity Angel.' He added, “Following M2E ‘Step Watch’, T2E service ‘Air TNT’, Metaverse ‘Eureka’, and launchpad ‘One Punk’ are also in preparation.”   SPLabs is a blockchain company established in 2019. It is headquartered in Singapore and has a development organization in Vietnam. In South Korea, it is building a business partnership with Nettiss(CEO Ahn Hee-chan, Nettiss.com). SPLabs made a joint venture with Netis. It also signed an MOU with ItemVerse, a GameFi platform company through Nettiss, which was announced in June.     SPLabs is currently operating SPexchange, a cryptocurrency exchange. It has over 70,000 active users. The daily trading volume is said to be about 15 billion won. It started business with a focus on the Vietnamese market. It has gained experience by participating as a partner in several P2E game projects. It buckled down to operating its own project. Currently, it has a total of 70 employees including South Korea. It includes 38 Vietnamese developers and 16 people from the Singapore corporation.   CEO Kim said, “I visited Vietnam 7 years ago and was introduced to the blockchain field through an acquaintance, and also explained, “in the early days of SPLabs, we had little sales, but we received a lot of help working with local partners and we were able to achieve good results by participating in P2E projects.     The first challenger that starts its own service in the P2E game field is 'Infinity Angel', which is scheduled to be released in September. SPLabs said that is has built up its capabilities by collaborating with partners such as 'FARALAND', 'Bemil', and 'ThetanArena' in the Southeast Asian market. So, ‘Infinity Angel’ is the first P2E project directly led by SPLabs based on this.   ‘Infinity Angel’ is a real-time online battle arena game produced by Korean developer RedCube. It is designed to make money by using NFT characters. Goods can be acquired only by placing characters through the research lab function, which increases it accessibility.   SPLabs is also preparing 3D RPG 'Immortal Wars' and MMORPG 'Aqua Phoenix' as their next projects. CEO Kim introduced, “the game, ‘Infinity Angel,’ which was produced by RedCube, a domestic developer, will support NFT transactions through its own marketplace and it is planning to launch into a global market in September after it is ready for service.   SPLabs is also preparing T2E service ‘Air TNT’. This is a project that CEO Kim is preparing as the next-generation model of the M2E service, which made headlines in the first half of this year. Beta service is scheduled for the second half of the year in mobile app version, and details will be released next month. It is planned as a service that connects people and people, people and companies to share travel data, and allows all participants to generate profits. Participants are given with a mission based on travel packages and they can obtain rewards by performing them. It has signed MOUs with travel companies in Southeast Asia and is also promoting cooperation with Japanese companies.   “You can receive rewards by completing missions, but it is also possible to make and sell products yourself, or advertise your accommodations or restaurants,” and it's in a form in which a product is planned using the planner function and a reward is given when it is officially selected, said, CEO Kim.   SPLabs is also planning to introduce 'Eureka', a metaverse project that connects actual real estate and virtual space, mainly in Vietnam. It aims to release in the first half of next year in the form that includes both B2C and B2B.   CEO Kim said, “We are seeking a direction to connect the Vietnamese and Korean local governments" and "we are thinking of a form in which companies can participate and enjoy Vietnamese culture,” he added.   Despite recent concerns about the blockchain market, CEO Kim showed confidence in the business process. The response of the M2E project 'Stepwatch', which is currently in progress, is positive. The governance token ‘SWP’ of ‘Stepwatch’ is listed on exchanges such as Gate.io. Non-Fungible Token (NFT) sales are about 6 million dollars. He emphasized that many external project companies are inquiring about partnerships.   “Recently, we also suffered a blow, such as a decrease in the volume of the exchange by more than half, but the cryptocurrency market was turbulent and the NFT market is infinite," and "something unexpected comes out every year because of different approaches, so it is important who understands trends first and leads the way” CEO Kim said confidently.   SPLabs presented the goal of this year to build an ecosystem by bringing together all the projects they are currently planning by releasing ‘One Punk’ at the end of the year. ‘One Punk’ is a launchpad platform that is the core of SPLabs’ business. Launchpad refers to a kind of public offering platform that provides investment opportunities to the general public by discovering new blockchain projects. SPLabs plans to include all existing service projects through ‘One Punk.’ It not only covers P2E games including ‘Infinity Angel’ and projects of SPLabs such as ‘Air TNT’ but also projects of external partners. It's strategy is to expand into an ecosystem where external partners can participate with their blockchain projects by issuing cryptocurrency that will serve as a key currency in the future. In particular, it promised to operate transparently as if it was conscious of the negative views on recent blockchain projects.   CEO Kim explained, “The strength of Launchpad is that it can absorb communities of all projects" and "if we launch a good project while forming a community by collaborating with partners, other communities will follow."   SPLabs is working with Nettiss to strengthen domestic partnerships. It is explained that the company will discover promising companies and grow together by providing SPLabs' technology and planning capabilities.   CEO Kim said, “We are just a start-up, and in South Korea, we want to make a good partner to promote SPLabs and grow together” 강동현 기자 [email protected] making infinity angel korean market game market

2022.08.01. 18:32