K-Pop World Festival: Fans criticise Israel's participation

The promotion of a K-pop event taking place in Israel ahead of a state-sponsored festival in South Korea has sparked outrage and calls for a boycott from fans of the genre, who are accusing Seoul of "artwashing genocide".  

The K-Pop World Festival, an annual Korean pop talent competition hosted by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), is an initiative that utilises the popularity of Korean culture - commonly referred to as the "Korean wave" - to promote the country globally.

Korean embassies around the world are responsible for organising a preliminary regional round, and selected finalists then make their way to the stage in South Korea.

After the South Korean embassy in Israel started promoting tickets for the 15 July auditions, K-pop fans took to social media in anger and called for boycotts with the hashtags #KpopFestivalOutWithZionism and #NoToArtwashingInKpop.

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