The poster for the upcoming Cheonan K-culture Expo / Courtesy of Cheonan Foundation for Arts and Culture

The Cheonan K-culture Expo, an iconic event capturing the essence of Korean cultural content, will take place at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, from May 22 to 26.

The upcoming expo will feature a variety of events, including Korean musical performances, hanbok (traditional Korean garment) fashion shows and exhibitions chronicling the history of K-pop, among others.

Its host, the Cheonan Foundation for Arts and Culture, has also launched the K-POP World Audition, a K-pop song and dance competition that will pick the winner to receive 10 million won ($7,400).

Anyone can apply for the audition, regardless of nationality, gender or age, by submitting online application forms and videos of their performances. The application will close at 6 p.m. on April 22.

The jury includes producer Kim Seung-nam from K-pop powerhouse YG Entertainment and will decide which of the 24 teams will advance to the next round after watching their videos on May 2.

Among them, the teams consisting of Koreans will vie against one another in Cheonan on May 23, while the teams of foreigners go head-to-head on the next day.

The final competition will be joined by 12 teams on May 25 and the winner will be singled out based on the judgements from K-pop experts and audience voting results.

In line with the expo, the Independence Hall of Korea will hold a special exhibition illuminating the music, theatrical shows and movies about Korea's independence movement against the 1910–45 Japanese colonial rule.

It will also run an exchange exhibition shedding light on the independence movement of other countries, including Greece, Hungary and Morocco.

Another highlight of the expo will be a conference on Korea's cultural industry, which will center on nine fields including K-food, K-beauty and K-webtoon.

"Cheonan K-culture Expo had its first run last year and attracted some 130,000 visitors," Cheonan Mayor Park Sang-don said. "This year, we will come up with a more diverse range of programs, activities and food to present the charm of K-culture."