How "KPop Demon Hunters" character 'Duffy' comes to life through traditional Korean folk play

On the cultural front.

A traditional performance with an appealing twist that brings to mind a sensational K-pop-inspired movie is creating new waves.

Ahn Sung-jin files this report.

The dense blue fur shakes as the tiger stands on its feet.

Its oversized mask, weathered yet alive, seems to breathe.

This is saja chum or saja talchum, directly translated as the lion dance.

It's a traditional Korean dance or folk play that portrays a lion to bring good fortune, but Yeonhee Connect Eul, a group of young performers have given it a twist to it, using a tiger instead.

The tiger happens to resemble the character 'Duffy' from "KPop Demon Hunters," but the group say they began using it instead of a lion to combine elements of its fierceness, traditional Korean folk paintings and the symbol of the mythical Seoul 'Haetae' creature with its team color blue.

"The fact that this piece reminded some of "KPop Demon Hunters" suggests that we successfully conveyed a universal narrative combining traditional themes and immersive media."

Through performances like this, the group works on bringing traditional folk performance arts back to life.

It often performs a type of Korean percussion music known as samulnori.

But rather than merely replicating the tradition, it instead adds digital projections or modern media like DJing.

"We aim to continue building on the foundation of traditional Korean performance arts while incorporating modern aspects through contemporary storytelling, media art and choreography to create entirely new stage experiences.

For them it's not about reproducing the past but creating works that breathe with the present.

Ahn Sung-jin, Arirang News.