RIYADH: In partnership with the Saudi Entertainment Academy, the Embassy of South Korea in Saudi Arabia is set to hold the final preliminary round of its first-ever participation in the K-pop World Festival in JAX district on Saturday.  In the first preliminary round, held at the academy’s hall earlier this week, 30 teams from all over the Kingdom, including Jeddah, participated.  Out of these, only 10 made it to the final preliminary round, which will be held on Saturday, Aug. 3 in JAX. Winners of the competition will move forward to the finals of the K-pop festival that will be held in Changwon, South Korea, in October.  The preliminary round of the competition was organized by the South Korean Embassy represented by Ambassador Choi Byung-Hyuk and headed by Director-General Kim Jong-Ho, with LG Electronics Saudi Arabia as a sponsor.  According to an official statement, through the festival, the embassy aims to showcase how relations between Saudi Arabia and South Korea have advanced from economic cooperation to include cultural partnership, connecting people through their passion for K-pop.   The qualifying teams are set to perform K-pop dances at JAX, a creative hub for artists in the heart of the former industrial heritage site in Diriyah. The K-pop World Festival, held annually in Changwon, has welcomed performers from all around the world including Kuwait, Singapore, the US, Spain, Ireland, Canada, and Cuba. K-pop has surged in popularity in the Kingdom, especially among Gen-Z and Gen Alpha. To meet the demand for K-pop music and culture in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom hosted its first-ever South Korean music and culture festival, KCON, in Riyadh in 2022.  The inaugural festival featured K-pop artists Rain, Sunmi, and Hyolyn, as well as bands including Pentagon, Secret Number, P1Harmony, The Boyz, Ateez, NewJeans, Oneus, STAYC, and TO1. The second edition of the festival featured performers including Everglow, Highlight, Hyolyn, Kard, Riize, and Super Junior-D&E.