A proclamation ceremony for Visit Korea Years 2016 to 2018 was held at Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul on Friday.

Some one thousand people including foreign diplomats and tourism industry officials attended the event which included K-pop cover dance performances by participants from around the world. So-called "smile ambassadors" also took oaths during the event and pledged to kindly receive foreign tourists leading up to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will continue various projects and programs up until the Pyeongchang Olympics to boost Korea's friendly image such as through the K-Smile campaign.