National Heritage Cultural Products Also Ride the K-Culture Wave... First-Half Sales Reach 9.1 Billion Won

K Heritage Achieves 50% Growth Year-on-Year
Aiming to Surpass 20 Billion Won in Sales This Year

Sales of cultural products utilizing national heritage have surged in line with the global K-culture wave.

View of K Heritage store.

The National Heritage Administration announced on the 14th that the on- and offline sales of its cultural product brand 'K Heritage' in the first half of this year totaled approximately 9.09 billion won. This represents a 49.7% increase from the same period last year (about 6.07 billion won), thanks to strong performance at the online store and the K Heritage store at Incheon International Airport. The National Heritage Administration develops traditional patterns, paintings, and other national heritage content into cultural products, selling them at major royal palaces, the National Palace Museum, Incheon International Airport, and other locations.

Sales at the online shopping site 'K Heritage Store' nearly doubled from around 1.18 billion won in the first half of last year to approximately 2.2 billion won this year. Sales at the Korea Traditional Culture Center at Incheon Airport also jumped from about 1.4 billion won to 2.66 billion won. Sales of co-branded and collaborative products similarly increased by nearly 61.3% over the past year.

Recently released specially planned products have driven this growth. In particular, the Gwanghwamun Woldae stone beast keyring and the 'Arirang Handkerchief,' launched to coincide with BTS's comeback performance at Gwanghwamun in March, proved extremely popular. Glasses and a 'durumagi' badge made to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Baekbeom Kim Gu's birth, as well as a cheering stick inspired by Gyeonghoeru, also saw rapid sales. A National Heritage Administration official stated, "Fans, handkerchiefs featuring Ilwolobongdo, wine stoppers engraved with Joseon royal patterns, and our 'Palace Perfume' have all received considerable attention and sold well."

K Heritage’s annual sales started at about 4.76 billion won in 2021, rising to 8.37 billion, 11.08 billion, and 11.88 billion won, reaching 16.1 billion won last year. Considering recent trends, it is expected that sales could surpass the 20 billion won mark this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.