Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, "The 'Milano Winter Olympics Korea House' has attracted the most 30,000 visitors ever."

*This content was translated by AI.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Choi Hwi-young) announced on the 26th that the "Korea House," which was operated in Milan, Italy, from the 5th to the 22nd in the wake of the "2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics" with the Korean Sports Council (Chairman Yoo Seung Min), recorded the highest number of visitors among the Korean houses of the Winter Olympics.

The Korea House, which opened in Milan's "Villa Necki Campilio," received a total of 32,656 people during its 18-day operation and an average of about 1,800 people per day. In particular, as all online pre-orders of 1,700 people per day were closed within seven days of opening, the number of people available for daily reservations was increased to 2,000.

Looking at the composition of visitors, the ratio of locals and foreigners was high. About three-quarters of the visitors were local to Italy, and Italian and English accounted for 95% of the satisfaction survey language, making foreign participation remarkable. About 90% of the respondents said they were satisfied with "Korea House," and in particular, they responded highly to various programs and contents.

"Korea House" also made meaningful achievements on the sports diplomacy stage. For the first time in the history of the "Korea House" opening event, 13 members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), including Spiroz Capralos, executive member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), attended, and even after the opening, visitors from IOC officials, including Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., vice chairman of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), continued.

In addition, key figures in the international sports sector, including the International Federation of Games (IF), National Olympic Committee (NOC) officials and athletes from each country, visited the "Korea House," where exchanges and cooperation were actively held. Kim Jae-yeol, who was elected as an executive member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), attended the opening ceremony of the "Korea House" and major official events to support South Korea's sports diplomacy activities, and Won Yoon-jong, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), held a press conference at the "Korea House" after his election to expand the contact point between sports diplomacy.

"Korea House" also faithfully performed its function as a base to support the Korean team. A total of four group cheering events for the South Korean team, including short track and curling, were held to gather cheering heat around the "Korea House" and raise the team's morale. He also held a press conference after winning medals for snowboard Choi Ga-on and Yoo Seung-eun and the short track national team, and also ran a visit program to the "Korea House" for the team. On the last day of the Korea House operation, the team's dismissal ceremony was held to encourage the team's hard work and express their gratitude with the successful conclusion of the competition.

This Korea House has received great response from visitors by running various programs that promote the colorful charm of Korean culture. The Korea Tourism Organization and CJ collaborated to introduce a Korean tourism program with the concept of "K-Daily Creation" that introduces Koreans' daily lives as hands-on, and a total of 320 people participated in the "K-Beauty" experience, which consists of K-pop singer makeup (make-up) and hair (hair) and customized color (personal color) counseling for five days.

A total of 600 people learned choreography to songs such as "K-pop Demon Hunters" and Blackpink's Jenny at the four-day cover dance experience event. A Korean tourism event (B2B) was also organized by inviting local travel agencies and media officials in Italy to link promotions at the Korea House so that the development and sales of tourism products to Korea will naturally lead to the development and sale of tourism products to Korea in the future.

The National Museum Cultural Foundation introduced the "MU:DS" product locally and received great response. During the event, a total of 2,507 "Mutes" products were sold, generating about 65 million won in sales, and the "Match Tiger Badge," which was popular in Korea due to the "K-pop Demon Hunters" craze, was sold out early during the event. In addition, a variety of "Mutes" products, including "K-pop Demon Hunters" materials such as "God" and "Jagae," as well as products related to Ilwol Obongdo pouch, moon jar key chains, and Bangasayusang, were evenly sold. The average daily sales of "Korea House" were about 3.61 million won, three times the average daily sales of "Mews" products at the "Lee Kun-hee Special Exhibition" held at the Smithsonian Museum in the U.S. from November 2025 to February, showing high consumption and interest among visitors.

Korean street food such as hotteok and fish cake was also very popular among visitors. In particular, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young directly sold street food at the "Korea House" on February 7 and participated in promoting "K-food," further raising the heat of the site.

Experience events linking Korean traditional culture utilizing the global popularity of "Squid Game" and "K-Pop Demon Hunters" also drew attention. Traditional play experiences such as playing ttakji and air in "Squid Game" drew an explosive response from local visitors, and Italian state broadcaster evaluated that "Squid Game" was reproduced in Milan's Villa Necki Camplio. One of the most popular programs in the field was the experience of wearing hanbok and Gat, which received worldwide attention through "K-Pop Demon Hunters".

As such, interest in Korean culture, which has increased through contents such as "Squid Game", "K-Pop Demon Hunters", and K-Pop, naturally flowed into "Korea House", and positive reviews continued on the creation of a space that combines Italy's historical architectural and cultural heritage "Villa Necki Campilio" with Korean content. As a result, word of mouth spread through visits by famous local content creators (influencer) and the spread of the Nuri communication network (SNS), and major Italian media also reported the achievements and enthusiasm of "Korea House."

"I was able to vividly feel the status of Korean culture and Korean sports through the 'Korea House' on the Olympic stage, where the attention of the world is focused," Minister Choi Hwi-young said. "Based on this experience and achievements, we will also operate a 'Korea House' that combines the charms of 'K-Sports' and 'K-Culture' at the upcoming '28 LA Summer Olympics."

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*This content was translated by AI.