"“Gimcheon Has Gimbap, Yangju Has Yangju”: Calls for a Festival Pour In After New Town Promo Video"

Apartments and Even Streams Flowing with Liquor
AI-Generated New Town Promotional Video Goes Viral

Apartments turn into giant liquor bottles, and liquor flows through streams instead of water. Bottles roll along the roads, and residents fill their glasses with liquor from the waterways. The scene, reminiscent of an imaginary city from a movie, is part of a promotional video for a new town made with artificial intelligence (AI) by Yangju City in Gyeonggi Province. The witty video, which connects the city’s name, Yangju, with yangju, a Korean term for Western liquor, has drawn an explosive response online. Some internet users have even suggested holding a “Yangju Festival,” like the “Gimbap Festival” in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province.

An apartment shaped like a liquor bottle appears in an AI-generated promotional video for a new town by Yangju City, Gyeonggi Province. YouTube channel “Yangju City”

A promotional video for Hoecheon New Town, recently posted on Yangju City’s official social media accounts, recorded about 1.9 million views in just six days. It also received more than 1,000 comments. Including YouTube views, the total reached about 2.2 million. The video opens with a man wearing a white sleeveless shirt, a pearl necklace and earrings gathering his team around a computer. Confidently tapping away at the keyboard, he unveils an AI-generated promotional video for Hoecheon New Town. The scenes that follow, however, are quite unlike those in a typical city promotional video.

A promotional video for Hoecheon New Town recently posted on Yangju City's official social media accounts garnered about 1.9 million views in just six days. It also received more than 1,000 comments. Including YouTube views, the total reached about 2.2 million. The YouTube channel “Yangju City”

Liquor bottles suddenly appear in a video that was supposed to introduce new apartment buildings, schools, transportation networks and green spaces. High-rise apartment buildings turn into bottle-shaped structures and spin around, while liquor pours through the waterways. Unrealistic scenes also show people taking out bottles of liquor and bottles rolling down the streets. In the end, scenes evoking a “city of liquor” have drawn more attention than the new town’s living conditions.

Internet users have also responded enthusiastically. Comments on the video include, “They should hold a Yangju Festival,” “Looking forward to the Yangju Festival,” and “A rival to the Gimbap Festival.” The idea is to turn a concept that began as a simple play on words into an actual local festival.

"Gimcheon for gimbap, Yangju for yangju": Wordplay becomes a tourism attraction

There are real examples of jokes inspired by local place names being developed into successful tourism content. The “Gimbap Festival” in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, is a prime example. While surveying young people about the city’s image, Gimcheon City found that some interpreted the place name “Gimcheon” as a shortened form of “Gimbap Cheonguk,” the name of a well-known gimbap chain. The city turned that reaction on its head and put it to use.

Tourists visit the 2026 Gimcheon Gimbap Festival, which opened in late October across Jikji Culture Park, Samyeongdaesa Park and Eco-Friendly Ecological Park in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. Photo by Gimcheon City/Yonhap News.

First held in 2024, the Gimbap Festival attracted more visitors than expected and became a nationwide talking point. About 100,000 people attended in its first year, and about 150,000 visited the festival last year, exceeding Gimcheon’s population. This year, the third festival was held over three days, from October 23 to 25, across Jikji Culture Park, Samyeongdaesa Park and Eco-Friendly Ecological Park. The organizers also expanded the event’s duration and venues and strengthened its offerings, including by showcasing a variety of gimbap from across the country.

Gimcheon City is building a distinctive tourism brand by combining gimbap sales with gimbap-making activities, character merchandise and performances. An idea that gave an unexpected meaning to a familiar local name has translated into attracting actual tourists.

Will a Yangju Festival become reality? Managing alcohol consumption and safety poses a challenge

The idea of holding a local festival centered on liquor is not new in Yangju City. Some residents reportedly proposed holding a highball or beer festival to the city in the past. The idea is that Yangju could capitalize on the fact that its name is the same as the Korean term for Western liquor, just as other regions hold events themed around beer and other drinks. However, Yangju City is not currently pursuing a festival. The city said it is not considering holding a Yangju Festival at this time. Since the event would be centered on alcohol, preventing excessive drinking and ensuring the safety of the venue are also matters to consider.

At the heart of the video’s success is Jeong Gyeoun, a civil servant in the Public Relations Office at Yangju City Hall. Born in 1993, Jeong has built a following by appearing in the city’s official social media content under the name “Jin Jumugwan.” With a promotional style that emphasizes distinctive direction and humor, Jeong is being recognized as a local government public relations official to watch, following Kim Seontae, known as “Chungju Man.”

Regarding the video’s popularity, Jeong said that if interest continues, other types of projects may also be possible. Although there are no immediate plans to hold a festival, the video was made to promote the new town and has put the city itself at the center of attention, making it a promotional success.

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