The historical backbone of bilateral relations between Türkiye and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) is the Korean War of 1950-1953. Türkiye, one of the first countries to respond to the United Nations (UN) call and send troops to the Korean Peninsula, participated in the war with approximately 15,000 Turkish soldiers. In addition to the military successes achieved by Turkish soldiers during the war, humanitarian initiatives such as the orphanage established for orphaned Korean children ensured that relations between the two countries went beyond a mere military alliance, transforming into a deep emotional bond in the memory of Korean society, expressed through the concept of “Blood Brotherhood (Hyeol-ui).”[i]
August 15, 1945, marks a vital turning point in Korean national identity. Known in Korean as “Gwangbokjeol (Day of the Return of Light),” this date commemorates Korea’s liberation from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule and its attainment of independence. Furthermore, August 15, 1948, is the date of the official establishment of the Republic of Korea. Therefore, for the Seoul government, August 15th is a symbol of national independence and the starting point of the modern Korean nation-state and its legitimacy within the international system.
The event held in Istanbul on August 15, 2026, is a strategic step that transforms this symbolic date from a simple national holiday celebration into an international public diplomacy initiative. Celebrating National Independence Day in another country through a cultural festival demonstrates Seoul’s capacity to present its historical legitimacy to the global public by blending it with soft power elements.[ii]
One of the most prominent instruments of South Korea’s foreign policy is its state-sponsored cultural diplomacy strategy, known in the literature as Hallyu (Korean Wave). Following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the Seoul government placed cultural exports (pop music, dramas, cuisine, cosmetics) at the center of national economic development and international image. In line with this vision, the Korea Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), operating under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Korean Cultural Centers (KCCs) worldwide have become the institutional implementing bodies of public diplomacy.
The Korean Cultural Center in Ankara, which opened in 2011, is one of the regional hubs of this strategy. The Ankara KKM has created a global attraction directly targeting Turkish youth through its Turkish-Korean language courses offered under the Sejong Language Institute, K-Pop dance and singing competitions, Korean film weeks, traditional handicraft workshops, and the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) academic scholarship program.
South Korea’s cultural diplomacy architecture is built upon a global cultural diffusion strategy known as Hallyu. The institutional foundation of this structure is formed by KOCIS (Korea Cultural Center for Korean Culture), Korean Cultural Centers operating in various countries, and specifically the Ankara Korean Cultural Center in Türkiye. The main tools of cultural diplomacy include popular culture elements such as K-Pop, K-Drama, and K-Food, as well as Sejong Language Institutes that promote the Korean language and culture internationally. Through these tools, the target audience is primarily young people, the general public, and academic and cultural circles. For South Korea, the fundamental strategic goal of this cultural diplomacy policy is to foster sympathy and positive perception of Korean culture, leverage this cultural appeal to support economic and trade expansion, and ultimately strengthen the country’s soft power capacity.[iii]
The distinguishing feature of these cultural activities in Türkiye is the successful integration of the Korean cultural industry’s emphasis on “historical friendship” with commercial and socio-cultural interaction. The adaptation or broadcasting of Korean dramas on Turkish television, the increasing interest in Korean cuisine (K-Food), and the rapid organization of Turkish K-Pop fandoms have transformed the traditional discourse of “war brotherhood” into a contemporary and dynamic cultural sympathy among younger generations.
The “Korean Days” event, held as part of the 5th Istanbul Festival at Festival Park Yenikapı on August 14-15, 2026, is a prime example of the scale achieved by South Korea’s public diplomacy. Organized in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Center and Focus Istanbul, the event brought together global K-Pop figures such as ATEEZ, Kwon Eunbi, Sunmi, and MONSTA X with Turkish music lovers. The K-Food and K-Beauty experience stands set up in the concert area transformed the music event into a holistic national branding effort. The festival attracted 60,000 attendees on its final day.[iv]
The speech given by South Korea’s Ambassador to Ankara, Boo Sukjong, during the event clearly revealed the diplomatic significance the state attributed to this organization. Ambassador Sukjong stated that the two countries are not only friends but “brothers bound by blood,” and that the sacrifice of Turkish soldiers in the Korean War constitutes a founding pillar for the modern Korean state. The moment this diplomatic framework found its strongest expression on stage was during the performance of the group MONSTA X and the statements made by group member Kihyun.[v]
MONSTA X member Kihyun, in a speech on stage, drew attention to the official history curriculum of the Republic of Korea, stating: “In Korean history books, it is recounted how Turkish soldiers helped us and the heroism they displayed. From our school years, we grow up learning that we should be grateful to Türkiye. We are always grateful to Türkiye and want to express this gratitude at every opportunity.” Kihyun’s statement is a critical example of how historical collective memory is reproduced and transmitted to younger generations through popular culture figures.
This situation is more than an accidental artistic gesture. MONSTA X is a group that has been assigned official diplomatic missions by the Seoul government. As a matter of fact, the group was appointed as the official cultural and awareness ambassador on a global scale within the scope of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals by the South Korean Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) in 2020 (ATEEZ group was also selected as the official Korean Cultural Ambassador by KOCIS in 2020).[vi]
Furthermore, the group’s cultural engagement with Türkiye is not limited to the 2026 festival. In February 2025, MONSTA X members Shownu and Jooheon visited Istanbul as part of the gastronomy and travel program “Stars’ Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant,” broadcast on KBS 2TV, a leading Korean broadcasting organization. Experiencing baklava making at Karaköy Güllüoğlu and introducing Turkish desserts like kaymak (clotted cream), kazandibi (caramelized milk pudding), and kum-brewed Turkish coffee to South Korean viewers, the group members acted as active cultural persuaders in conveying Türkiye’s gastronomy and cultural tourism to the Korean public.[vii]
When analyzing Türkiye-South Korea relations through the example of the Istanbul Festival, three fundamental conceptual frameworks of the international relations discipline stand out:
- Joseph Nye defines soft power as a country’s ability to persuade and attract other states and societies through its culture, political values, and foreign policy, without using coercion (military force) or money (economic power). South Korea presents a model of a “state that generates attraction” by making K-Pop stars an instrument of public diplomacy. The mass fan bases of groups like MONSTA X or ATEEZ in Türkiye provide the Seoul administration with direct access to and the opportunity to build positive perceptions within the sociological base of Turkish society.
- Relations between the two countries have evolved from a “security alliance” to a “cultural alliance.” The emphasis on historical heritage in international relations acts as a cushion providing diplomatic resilience during times of crisis. The expression of the legacy of the Korean War and the portrayal of Türkiye in the curriculum by MONSTA X member Kihyun on stage is a re-creation of historical memory through popular culture. This approach ensures the sustainability of security-based historical capital by transferring it to the socio-cultural sphere.
- In the international system, Türkiye and South Korea are classified as “Middle Powers” in terms of their military and economic scale. Both states are actors that strive to balance the areas of competition between great powers in the global hierarchy, attach importance to multilateralism, and cooperate in platforms such as MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Türkiye, Australia). For middle powers, public diplomacy is the most effective way to increase their specific weight in the international system. This systematic cultural diplomacy conducted by South Korea in Türkiye is a manifestation of the efforts of the two middle powers to establish strategic and social integration with each other in the age of global competition.
The “Korean Days” event, held as part of the Istanbul Festival on August 15, 2026, is a symbolic event demonstrating the maturity level achieved by South Korea’s public diplomacy in Türkiye. The military and humanitarian foundations laid on the battlefield have not disappeared over the past seventy years; on the contrary, they have been reinforced through popular culture, gastronomy, and youth diplomacy instruments thanks to rational state-supported cultural policies.
The emotional and historical ties established between Türkiye and globally renowned actors like MONSTA X and ATEEZ offer a significant model of how middle-power diplomacy can transcend classic paradigms and take root at the societal level. For Türkiye, such events create a favorable environment for deepening relations with South Korea, one of the most dynamic actors in the Asia-Pacific region, across economic, technological, and cultural dimensions.
[i] “Türkiye – Kore Cumhuriyeti Siyasi İlişkileri”, T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı, https://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkiye-guney-kore-siyasi-iliskileri.tr.mfa?utm, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026); ERKAN, M. S. (2013). Kore savaşı ve Kore’de Türk tugayı (25 Haziran 1950 – 6 Temmuz 1953). Türk Dünyası Araştırmaları, 102(203),45-76. ; “KORE HAKKINDA GENEL BİLGİLER, 23.04.2019” REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE TURKISH EMBASSY IN SEOUL, https://seul-be.mfa.gov.tr/Mission/ShowInfoNote/356130?utm, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026).
[ii] “Güney Koreli şarkıcılar, İstanbul Festivali’nde sahne aldı”, Anadolu Ajansı, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/kultur/guney-koreli-sarkicilar-istanbul-festivalinde-sahne-aldi/4028253, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026); “Public Diplomacy of the Republic of Korea”, Mofa Republic of Korea, https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/wpge/m_22841/contents.do, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026); Nye, J. S. (2008). Public Diplomacy and Soft Power. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616(1), 94-109.
[iii] Erin, Z. Ç. (2023). South Korea’s foreign policy identity: Globalization, nationalism and cultural public diplomacy critical approaches [Master’s thesis, Yalova University].
[iv] “İstanbul Festivali’nde K-Pop coşkusu”, Milliyet Sanat, https://www.milliyetsanat.com/haberler/diger/istanbul-festivali-nde-k-pop-coskusu/27725, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026); “Monsta X’s Istanbul Performance Ignites Korean Chants”, The Chosun, https://www.chosun.com/english/kpop-culture-en/2026/08/17/EWS6AP3DU5C7ZFRVKJGSNX7JZY/, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026); “MONSTA X Thrill 60,000 Fans at Istanbul Festival With a Korean Sing-Along”, All Kpop, https://www.allkpop.com/article/2026/08/monsta-x-thrill-60000-fans-at-istanbul-festival-with-a-korean-sing-along, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026); “에이티즈, 세계에 한국문화 알린다”, Korean Culture, https://shorturl.at/Xuo6H, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026).
[v] “Güney Koreli şarkıcılar, İstanbul Festivali’nde sahne aldı”, Anadolu Ajansı, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/kultur/guney-koreli-sarkicilar-istanbul-festivalinde-sahne-aldi/4028253, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026).
[vi] “몬스타엑스, 미래세대에게 ‘진실, 신뢰, 투명성’의 메시지를 전한다”, Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, https://www.acrc.go.kr/board.es?act=view&bid=0015&list_no=33404&mid=a40903000000&nPage, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026); “ACRC to Name Monsta X Publicity Ambassador for IACC”, Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, https://www.acrc.go.kr/board.es?act=view&bid=0015&list_no=33402&mid=a40903000000, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026).
[vii] “Monsta X’s Shownu and Jooheon savor Turkish delights while exploring Istanbul”, The Chosun, https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-entertainment/2025/05/16/ZTMCCP54RRBFZMFF6PJ3RLRJ7Q/, (Date of Access: 17.08.2026).
