The World Cultural Festival is a large-scale cultural exchange event including diversified activities to promote RoK culture and participating countries in various fields such as cuisine, music, fashion, cinema and literature in combination with trade and investment promotion activities.

The festival, which is to be funded by the RoK government, will be co-organised by Gyeongsangbuk-do province and Ho Chi Minh City in co-ordination with the RoK's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

The event has been held biennially since 1998 in RoK and other participating nations.

The World Cultural Festival 2017 is expected to promote the culture, land and people of Vietnam and attract more RoK and international tourists to the South-East Asian country.

The festival is scheduled to take place on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation 2017 (APEC).