2022 Mokkoji Korea Malaysia

 The global Hallyu event Mokkoji Korea has finally made its way to Malaysia!

Mokkoji Korea was held on November 12 and 13 in Malaysia

According to its website, the organizers stated that, “MOKKOJI KOREA is a global Hallyu event hosted by The Ministry of Cultural, Sports and Tourism and supervised by The Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange. ‘MOKKOJI’ is a Korean word that refers to the action of gathering many people through games, parties, and various other events. MOKKOJI KOREA visits Hallyu fans around the world each year to provide the fans with opportunities to experience Korean lifestyle and culture and enhances cultural understanding among countries through two-way cultural exchanges.”

The focus countries for 2022 were Uzbekistan and Malaysia. 

The Malaysia event was held on November 12 and 13 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

There was a mini stage, Mokkoji Kitchen, Mokkoji Market, Mokkoji Square and various zones.

Dance cover performance at the mini stage

According to organizers, Mokkoji Square is a space where local Hallyu fans can enjoy and experience diverse Korean culture such as K-drama, webtoons, games, and more.

Here are the various zones at Mokkoji Square.

At the SCHOOL ZONE, visitors had the chance to try on Korean school uniforms and take photos, and create their names with Korean alphabet Hangeul.

SCHOOL ZONE

At the SCHOOL ZONE, visitors had the chance to create their names with the Korean alphabet Hangeul.

At the SCHOOL ZONE, visitors had the chance to create their names with the Korean alphabet Hangeul.

At the TRAVEL ZONE, visitors can “travel to Korea” via VR video. There was also an exhibition of tourist attractions in K-dramas such as Hometown Cha Cha Cha.

At the TRAVEL ZONE, visitors can “travel to Korea” via VR video

At the DRAMA ZONE, there were K-dramas exhibitions, costume experiences and Korean lifestyle experiences from K-dramas like Mystic Pop-up Bar (쌍갑포차).

At the WEBTOON ZONE, there were K-webtoons exhibitions (of K-webtoons like Buy Me a Meal Before It’s Too Late and The Way To Sehwa), Korean lifestyle and culture experiences.

At the PLAY ZONE, there were people dressed in Squid Game costumes and there were apparently Korean games scheduled such as Yut-play, Sabangchigi, Tuho, and Slap-match. Visitors could also try their hand at making Korean crafts such as a traditional knot, Korean calligraphy, and mask, etc.

Visitors painting the Korean traditional mask 'Tal'.

Visitors painting the Korean traditional mask 'Tal'.

As a K-beauty aficionado and blogger, I personally liked the Korean beauty brands at MOKKOJI MARKET where exhibitors gave out samples to visitors. 

Programs at the mini stage included K-Beauty Class with make-up artist Bia Shin, Kpop Dance Performance, K-Lifestyle and Culture Mini-Talk, K-Food Cooking Class, Lucky Draw for K-POP Goods, and High-five events with the concert performers.

The line-up for the concert included MOONBIN & SANHA, JEON SOMI, and BLANK2Y.

Upon entering the event hall, one could see a long line, it turns out it is the queue for one of the Korean food stalls. Food sold at the event included Korean style hot dog and fried chicken, Korean traditional beverage Sikhye (sweet Korean rice beverage), bulgogi, japchae, tteokbokki, gimbap, Jumeok-bap (주먹밥, Korean rice balls), and of course kimchi.

I haven’t had Sikhye for years and was hoping to try it, unfortunately e-wallet payment was not accepted at the stall.

Another section that attracted long lines was the hanbok trial section where event visitors patiently queued up to don the traditional Korean costume.

Visitors trying on hanbok at the event

It was great that the event hall was spacious, allowing visitors ample space to view the various activities and exhibitions. This is especially important considering that the pandemic is still ongoing and Malaysia recorded 2,882 new Covid-19 infections on November 12.

It was really helpful of the 2022 MOKKOJI KOREA Team to inform via its Facebook page that the KL Standard Chartered Marathon will be held in the morning of November 12-13 

in Kuala Lumpur, and therefore some roads will be closed so those intending to attend Mokkoji can check the marathon route through the marathon’s official website for info.

In all, Mokkoji Korea is a fantastic platform to promote Korean culture and I hope they will return to Malaysia again soon.