TL;DR at the bottom if you're lazy.
There's an event called 'Hwangnam-dong Carnival.' It was a solid event run by private agencies and indie musicians for several years.
In 2024, they teamed up with Gyeongju City and rebranded as 'Golden Carnival' to scale up, and it was a massive hit. After that, Gyeongju City wanted to keep it going for 2025, but the original agency pulled out because working with the city was a total shitshow. But the city didn't want to let go of a proven money-maker. They kept the name 'Golden Carnival,' copied the content from the original 'Hwangnam-dong' days, and tried to hire a different agency to host the 2025 version.
The original agency fought back.
A legal battle ensued.
The original agency won.
Summary: 1. City injects budget into a private event to scale up. 2. Event blows up, but the agency leaves because Gyeongju’s management is trash. Gyeongju tries to hijack the IP. 3. Gyeongju loses. Gyeongju is pathetic.
"Users are roasting Gyeongju City for its 'robber-like' attempt to hijack a successful private event's IP, blaming the mess on toxic 'kkondae' officials and lazy management."
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