President Kim Daejin of the K-Arts takes the post of the classical music director of the 2023 International Special Music & Mart Festival (ISMAF). The festival is the only cultural festival around the world for people with developmental disabilities. Celebrating its 10^th anniversary, the ISMAF is a heritage of the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang. The event supports the societal embracement of groups with and without developmental disabilities through music, fine art, and sports.

This year, the ISMAF is held from 2 to 5 August with over 700 people involved, including the mentees and mentors, 120 each, from around the world, 50 volunteers, 80 lecturers and staff, and 330 other participants. In particular, the participants from overseas who could not attend the event for the latest 4 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic finally made it to the event.

For the first day of the festival, President Kim Daejin of K-Arts plans on arranging the opening concert co-performed by eminent classical musicians in Korea and artists with developmental disabilities, who will be mentors and mentees of each other in preparation for the stage. Also, as the festival seeks the topic, “Thank You,” it will make a chance for the participants to express gratefulness to their parents, mentors, and mentees.

The ISMAF will be live-streamed through the YouTube channel of the Special Olympics Korea.