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Crown Haitai Confectionery employees to perform Korean traditional music at Osaka Expo site

Published: 16 Jun. 2025, 18:17 Updated: 16 Jun. 2025, 18:49

The Crown Haitai Confectionary in-house traditional music club performs on stage. [CROWN HAITAI]

Executives and employees of a Korean confectionery company, Crown Haitai Confectionery, will take center stage in Japan later this month — not to sell sweets, but to perform centuries-old Korean traditional music before a global audience.

From June 22 to 23, a group of its executives and staff members will give four performances — two indoors and two outdoors — at the 2025 Osaka Expo site, hoping to share the beauty of gugak (Korean traditional music) and promote the upcoming 2025 Yeongdong World Traditional Music and Arts Expo to be held in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong, from Sept. 12 to Oct. 11.

The performers aren’t professionals — they’re office workers. Crown Haitai’s in-house traditional music clubs have been active for over 15 years, with employees honing their skills in pansori (a Korean musical genre performed by a drummer and singer), folk songs, the ritual court dance Ilmu and samulnori, a traditional percussion ensemble.

For many, this marks their first overseas performance. The company handpicked the 108-member troupe through a yearlong audition process, joined by 15 traditional music majors from Seoul Institute of the Arts through a university-industry partnership.

“It moves me deeply that this marks the first performance overseas by a private company to promote the Yeongdong World Traditional Music and Arts Expo and convey the beauty of traditional music,” said Yoon Young‑dal, chairman of Crown Haitai. “We will strive so that we ourselves learn and enjoy traditional music and let its beautiful scent soak the world,” he said.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]