Fresh off the heels of Anime NYC, another major convention is headed to the Big Apple this Memorial Day weekend.
KPEX: Korean Pop Culture Expo will launch May 29-31 at the Javits Center, bringing K-Pop, K-Dramas, K-Comics, K-Games, K-Food, K-Beauty, and more under one roof. The three-day convention aims to fill a gap in the U.S. pop-culture landscape. While comic cons and anime conventions connect fans with American and Japanese entertainment in cities across the country, there are far fewer large-scale gatherings dedicated to Korean pop culture.
With KCON last held in New York in 2019, KPEX hopes to establish a new East Coast destination for the growing Hallyu, or Korean Wave, generation.
amNewYork spoke exclusively with KPEX founders Greg Topalian, co-creator of New York Comic Con; Robert Khoo, a Tokyo-based gaming and live-events executive and founding architect of PAX; and Peter Tatara, co-creator of Anime NYC. The trio, along with LeftField Media (the company behind Anime NYC, Anime Frontier, Awesome Con and Rose City Comic Con) are bringing their experience producing some of the country’s biggest fan conventions to the world of Korean entertainment and culture.
KPEX is being boasted as a “comic con for the Hallyu Generation,” but Topalian emphasized that the convention is not simply another iteration of an existing fan event.
“We’re the next chapter and evolution of events to serve the Korean pop culture audience and industry,” Topalian said.
The decision to launch in New York was driven in part by the Korean entertainment industry itself. When the founders began exploring the concept, they asked Korean pop-culture companies where they wanted to see the event.
“They loudly told us New York,” Topalian said. “This is an important city to the industry, and it’s looking for a platform where it can showcase what’s next in Korean entertainment. We’re here in NYC because the industry asked us.”
The founders also see a strong demand among fans. Only 34% of people who have signed up for KPEX’s newsletter currently live in New York City, according to Topalian, with the majority coming from elsewhere in the U.S. and internationally.
That reach, he said, underscores the need for a gathering place for Korean pop-culture fans.
The KPEX logoPhoto courtesy of KPEX
“This is a fanbase in search of a home, and we’re honored and excited to build one,” Topalian said.
The convention is expected to welcome about 25,000 attendees in its inaugural year. By comparison, Anime NYC drew 170,000 attendees in 2026, and the Javits Center gives KPEX room to grow.
While K-Pop may be one of the biggest draws, the founders stress that KPEX is designed to represent the interconnected world of Korean entertainment and culture.
“We’re building KPEX with a festival mentality, rather than a group of separate groups that happen to share a building,” Khoo said.
He pointed to the connections between the different industries: K-Pop influences beauty and fashion, while games and dramas are often based on webtoons. KPEX aims to make those connections part of the experience while giving fans opportunities to discover interests beyond their existing fandoms.
Programming is expected to range from premieres, concerts, dance workshops, language lessons and celebrity autograph sessions to comic signings, chef tastings and cultural workshops.
Tatara said the team is also intentionally avoiding simply replicating the format of Anime NYC.
“We want to be very careful we don’t just take the Anime NYC floor plan and change the name at the top,” he said.
K-Food and K-Beauty, for example, will play a much larger role at KPEX, while interactive experiences such as workshops and cultural lessons will be central to the convention.
New York already has a thriving Korean pop-culture scene, with events including KOOM and last year’s KBEE, along with concerts, fan events, pop-ups and cultural programming throughout the year. Tatara said KPEX is not intended to compete with those events, but to bring the various corners of Korean entertainment together on a larger scale.
“KPEX doesn’t look to compete with or replace any of these events, but rather to build something new, a larger community and an event that brings all the worlds of Korean culture and entertainment together,” he said.
The convention’s location at the Javits Center is part of that ambition. The founders see the venue’s scale as an opportunity to eventually turn KPEX into a major national destination.
The team is already planning ways to welcome visitors from outside New York, including an official hotel block, partnerships with local Korean restaurants and shops, and a city map featuring recommendations for attendees.
Photo by Amanda Moses
They are also responding to requests from fans for dedicated meetup spaces where people traveling from different cities and countries can connect.
For the founders, creating an authentic celebration of Korean culture means ensuring Korean and Korean American voices are involved from the beginning. They told amNewYork that the team is working with organizations and companies including KOCCA, Ize Press, Infinitize and IW Group, as well as Korean and Korean American nonprofit, governmental and civic organizations.
Tatara noted that New York is home to the second-largest Korean population in the United States, making local representation particularly important.
“Yes, KPEX is going to feature major performers from Seoul, but we also want to make sure we spotlight independent Korean American artists from Elmhurst and DJs from Flushing,” Tatara said. “New York’s Korean community must be part of the constellation we’re building at KPEX.”
The timing of the inaugural convention also coincides with AAPI Heritage Month. Khoo said the dates were ultimately determined by Javits Center availability, but the overlap feels fitting for an event focused on elevating Korean and Korean American culture.
“KPEX is about bringing people together to celebrate something they love, but it’s also about elevating Korean pop culture, and Korean American culture, and giving it its own space to call home,” Khoo said.
He also hopes Memorial Day Weekend will help make the convention a destination for families and visitors who might otherwise leave the city for the holiday.
Tickets for KPEX are scheduled to go on sale Sept. 18 at noon EST, with special guests and additional programming expected to be announced throughout the fall.
For the founders, the ultimate goal goes beyond creating another convention. They want KPEX to become a home for the millions of Americans who have embraced Korean entertainment and culture.
“From Oscar wins and K-Pop stars performing during the World Cup, to record-breaking streaming success, Korean entertainment has become a beloved fixture in American pop culture with over 25 million fans all across the country,” Tatara said in a press release. “We hope we can now give its fans, creators, and the companies at the heart of K-Culture a place to call home in the center of New York City.”
