Hooker Valley Track unlikely K-Pop star pilgrimage site, Shinee’s Choi Minho latest Korean musician to visit

Mt Cook and the Hooker Valley is the backdrop to several K-Pop travel TV crossovers. Photo / Instagram

It’s been called New Zealand’s easiest alpine walk, the Hooker Valley from Mt Cook Village is now also an unlikely pilgrimage site for visiting musicians.

Choi Minho of K-Pop band Shinee published photos last week from the boardwalks of the well-maintained 3-hour walking track.

Minho, 31, has been touring the South Island for a television project. He shared photos of the trip with his 3.2 million Instagram followers from the Hooker Glacier on Friday.

Stopping off at Queenstown and Canterbury on a whirlwind tour of New Zealand, the singer and former sports star has a devoted, international fanbase.

The star was visiting New Zealand with actors - Ha Jung Woo, Yeo Jin Goo, and Joo Ji Hoon - to film a Korean language travel show highlighting New Zealand.

The fab four were filming for the series Ticketing with Two Feet which shows them tackling some of the New Zealand natural beauty spots, lending a hand at the Gibbston valley wineries and jumping from the Kawarau Bridge Bungy.

A teaser trailer for the show was published earlier this year.

Mt Cook unexpectedly found itself in the spotlight of the Korean Wave after the Hooker Valley became the focal point for a BTS travel show Bon Voyage.

The scenic glacier walk was the cover of promotional material for the show, which saw the Bangtan Boys touring the South Island. At the time the Korean music group held world records for being the most streamed artists on Spotify and the largest Instagram account following of any musician.

New Zealand was the final destination for BTS’ travel TV series - after Norway, Hawaii and Malta - before the group announced a hiatus due to national military service obligations in Korea.