Fortuna Music Contest #14 • Seoul, South Korea

Some details about the fourteenth edition of the Fortuna Music Contest have been revealed in a press-conference today.

Seoul, officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. According to the 2020 census, Seoul has a population of 9.9 million people, and forms the heart of the Seoul Capital Area with the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province. Considered to be a global city and rated as an Alpha – City by Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC), Seoul was the world's fourth largest metropolitan economy in 2014, following Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles.

Seoul was rated Asia's most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis in 2015, with a GDP per capita (PPP) of around $40,000. With major technology hubs centered in Gangnam and Digital Media City, the Seoul Capital Area is home to the headquarters of 15 Fortune Global 500 companies, including Samsung, LG, and Hyundai. Ranked seventh in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, the metropolis exerts a major influence in global affairs as one of the five leading hosts of global conferences. Seoul has hosted the 1986 Asian Games, 1988 Summer Olympics, and the 2010 G20 Seoul summit.

Seoul was the capital of various Korean states, including Baekje, Joseon, the Korean Empire, Goryeo (as a secondary capital), and presently South Korea. It is strategically located along the Han River. Seoul's history stretches back over two thousand years, when it was founded in 18 BC by the people of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The city was later designated the capital of Korea under the Joseon dynasty. Seoul is surrounded by a mountainous and hilly landscape, with Bukhan Mountain located on the northern edge of the city. The Seoul Capital Area contains five UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeok Palace, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine, Namhansanseong and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. More recently, Seoul has been a major site of modern architectural construction – major modern landmarks include the N Seoul Tower, the 63 Building, the Lotte World Tower, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Lotte World, Trade Tower, COEX, IFC Seoul, and the Parc1. Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital. It is the birthplace of K-pop and the Korean wave, as it is the heart of Korean culture and massive medias, entertainment firms, and broadcasters.

The Olympic Gymnastics Arena (Korean: 올림픽체조경기장), also known as the KSPO Dome since 2018, is an indoor arena located within the Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea. It has a capacity of 15,000. It was constructed between 31 August 1984 and 30 April 1986, to host the gymnastics competitions at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The roof was designed by David H. Geiger. It is a self-supporting cable dome – the first of its kind ever built – with a four-layer fabric cladding. Since the Olympics it has hosted a variety of events, notably as a concert venue for both South Korean and international artists.

Yeo Jin-goo, born 13 August 1997 in Seoul, is a South Korean actor. Yeo began his career as a child actor, debuting in the film Sad Movie (2005). Nicknamed "Nation's Little Brother", he went on to play the younger characters of the lead roles in movies and television dramas such as in A Frozen Flower (2008), Giant (2010), Moon Embracing the Sun (2012), and Missing You (2012). He is known for playing the title character in the action thriller Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013), for which he won Best New Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.


IU, born 16 May 1993 in Seoul, also known by her stage name IU (Korean: 아이유), is a South Korean singer-songwriter, composer, and actress. She signed with LOEN Entertainment (now Kakao Entertainment) in 2007 as a trainee and debuted as a singer at the age of fifteen with her first extended play (EP) Lost and Found (2008). Although her follow-up albums, Growing Up and IU...IM, brought mainstream success, it was only after the release of "Good Day" (Korean: 좋은 날), the lead single from her 2010 album Real, that she achieved national stardom. "Good Day" went on to spend five consecutive weeks at the top of South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart, and in 2019, it was ranked number one on Billboard's "100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s" list.