The Embassy of the Republic of Korea hosted the K-Pop World Festival, Pakistan Edition in collaboration with National University of Modern Languages (NUML). The finale of this event was held at the NUML Auditorium, Islamabad. The K-Pop Festival was judged in two categories: dancing and singing. The singing category was won by Diya Amin while dancing category was won by Arisha Khan and Taha Khan. The event was attended by a large number of K-Pop enthusiasts, students of NUML and other universities as well as music lovers from Islamabad. Korean Ambassador Sung-kyu Kwak and NUML Director General Brigadier Muhammad Ibrahim also attended the ceremony. The Korean ambassador appreciated the enthusiasm of the participants and the audience and thanked NUML for their long standing support to the promotion of Korean language and culture in Pakistan. The ambassador also spoke about the increasing appreciation of Korean culture around the world, referred to as the Korean wave, which has seen the rising popularity of Korean music, dramas, cuisine, arts and literature. NUML director general reiterated his commitment to focus on promotion of Korean language and culture in Pakistan. He also congratulated the Korean embassy on hosting such a colorful event in Pakistan which will further enhance the soft image of Korea. Dozens of teams had auditioned for the festival, out of which 15 teams were selected to perform in the final. The audience enthusiastically enjoyed the final event of the Pakistan edition of the K-Pop World Festival. People could be seen dancing and singing along with the contestants. A lucky draw was held amongst the audience members and winner received prizes and souvenirs. Final winners’ video will be sent to Korean Broadcasting System, one of Korea’s leading television channels. If it is selected, that team will take part in K-Pop World Festival in Changwon, Korea in September 2018. Published in Daily Times, July 23rd 2018.