[Exclusive] S. Korean Embassy accused of mismanagement at K-Culture event in Pakistan

A Korean cultural event hosted by the South Korean Embassy in Pakistan drew criticism over the weekend after visitors said they were told at the venue that the event had been canceled, leaving many unable to enter despite traveling long distances to attend.

“People were so furious,” said Hajra Ijaz, a 29-year-old Pakistani visitor who attended the event. “When we reached the venue, police and security personnel told us the event had been canceled, which was clearly a lie.”

The embassy on Saturday held “K-Wave Festa,” an event showcasing Korean food, beauty products and traditions, alongside a K-pop festival where Pakistani amateur dancers were given the chance to perform onstage.

The event, held at a luxury hotel in Islamabad, was open to the public.

“The issue was that it was open to the public, and the embassy could not handle the crowd,” Ijaz said. “It was a terrible experience.”

Similar accounts circulated on social media, with some users saying they had traveled long distances from other cities in Pakistan despite high fuel prices, only to be told that the event had been canceled.

“Due to mismanagement, the event has been cancelled,” one post read, adding that authorities were announcing the cancellation at the entrances ot the event.

Some visitors who were unable to enter shared pitcures of the embassy’s event poster on social media, edited to add the word “canceled” across it. Others said the embassy should compensate visitors for their lost time and travel expenses.

Aftab Alam, a Pakistani content creator who had previously promoted the event, alleged that the embassy had “used extensive influencer marketing to create hype, but failed to provide a venue that could accommodate the resulting crowd.”

Alam told The Korea Herald that the embassy should have foreseen the large turnout and planned for a bigger venue.

“The embassy owes a public apology to the people of Islamabad,” he said.

The embassy, however, denied that it had informed the public that the event was canceled.

“The hotel told us they would close the gates because too many people had come, exceeding the venue’s capacity,” an embassy official told The Korea Herald on Sunday.

The official said the embassy did not tell the public that the event was canceled, but believed misinformation had spread on social media.

However, the embassy posted on its official Instagram page at around 5 p.m. Saturday that the event had ended, approximately three hours before it was officially scheduled to end.

The official said the embassy had planned the event as open to the public, but more than 15,000 people turned up, far exceeding the hotel’s capacity and the embassy’s expectations.

“Eventually, riot police were called in to prevent crowd-related accidents,” the official added.

The official also noted that afternoon rain forced the K-pop performance portion of the event to be moved indoors, which may have contributed to the impression that the event had been canceled.

The embassy had yet to issue an official response as of Sunday, as it was the weekend, the official said.

The event had previously been scheduled for April 11, but was postponed due to safety concerns ahead of high-level talks between the US and Iran held April 11-12 at the same hotel.

The venue and Islamabad police could not immediately be reached for comment.

seungku99@heraldcorp.com