Kim Dong-gi, ambassador and permanent delegate of the Republic of Korea to UNESCO, criticized Japan on Thursday for not keeping its promise to honor the victims of wartime forced labor at its historic industrial sites, including Hashima Island. “Japan is not living up to the pledge that it made and also is disregarding the authority of the World Heritage Committee,” Kim said during a press conference in Paris. Kim added that Japan’s actions were harming its national image.

Culture June 26, 2020

Korea National University of Cultural Heritage’s traditional arts and crafts professor Sim Yeon-ok has published a book, titled “2,000 Years of Korean Embroidery,” which offers historical analyses on the technical development of Korean embroidery, in collaboration with her students. Established in 2000, the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage is run by the Cultural Heritage Administration. The book presents 48 historic embroidery works from the ancient kingdoms p

Books June 25, 2020

Cultural Heritage Administration head Chung Jae-suk on Monday talked about her ambition to play a more active role in promoting Korean cultural heritage around the world. “The CHA’s role has been restricted to preserving cultural heritage. Even now this role accounts for a large part of our work, up to 70-80 percent of our budget. I understand the importance of preserving cultural heritage but from now on we have to also consider how we will promote these items,” Chung said

Culture June 24, 2020

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Sunday denied reports that it had planned to officially ask UNESCO to delist Japan’s historical industrial sites, including Hashima Island. In 2015, Japan had promised the center would include information on the Koreans who were forced to work at the site during that country’s 1910-45 colonial rule over Korea. Although it denied plans to take any immediate official action, the Culture Ministry added that it was currently discussing th

Culture June 22, 2020

K-pop powerhouses on Friday participated in a roundtable meeting with Culture Minister Park Yang-woo, discussing the financial difficulties they face due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19. The meeting, hosted by the Culture Ministry, in addition to listening to the challenges entertainment companies face, was intended to set the agenda for expanding the Korean Wave in the post-coronavirus era. Eight senior executives of K-pop companies including S.M. Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, Big Hit

K-pop June 21, 2020

The Cultural Heritage Administration will hold an offline in-person performance to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. While many events and concerts to mark the war here are set to take place online due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19, the CHA will hold the offline concert at its National Intangible Heritage Center’s concert hall in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, on June 24. This performance’s main theme will be about Koreans coming together and becoming united throu

Culture June 16, 2020

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Monday that its affiliated institutions will hold several events to mark the 70th anniversary of the war that began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded the South. The National Theater of Korea on Wednesday will hold a concert at Lotte Concert Hall and perform music about war and peace to mark the special day from 8 p.m. Due to the COVID-19, the concert will be held without audiences and will air the performance through the online ch

Culture June 15, 2020

Music concert hall operator Stradeum announced Thursday that it will hold the “Stage 30” concert series from June 16 to July 10 jointly with performance-planning company United Producers. The Stradeum, a 100-seat venue, will only seat 30 concertgoers to comply with social distancing guidelines. Stradeum added that everyone in the audience must go through temperature checks and wear masks. “This concert is part of the musician’s process to find ways to meet with audienc

Performance June 11, 2020

Concerns of the publishing industry and local offline bookstore owners are rising, as Interpark Songin, a retailer to small and medium-sized bookstores, announced Tuesday that it has filed for court receivership due to mounting losses. In 2017, e-commerce platform operator Interpark acquired a 56.2 percent stake in the book retailer, which at the time was under court receivership, for 4 billion won ($3.36 million). Interpark said that it has since been working hard to normalize the business

Books June 10, 2020

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Tuesday announced the discovery of two articles of stoneware from the Paleolithic Age and other relics in Daeseong-dong of Paju, Gyeonggi Province. This was CHA’s first survey inside the Demilitarized Zone since drawing up a plan in March to seek UNESCO listing of the DMZ. “It is hard to say that the findings will have a direct influence on UNESCO listing,” CHA official Cho Eun-kyung told The Korea Herald. “The UNESCO makes eval

Culture June 9, 2020

The Korean Culture and Information Service and the Culture Ministry announced Tuesday that the 2020 “Nonjangpan” competition for students interested in the liberal arts was starting. South Korean students and foreign students living in Korea are invited to submit applications by June 28. The competition aims to cultivate in-depth and broad understanding of Korean culture by encouraging participants to create content using traditional music. “Ongojisin,” a Korean prov

Culture June 9, 2020

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the launch of a new department to support the Korean Wave’s further expansion on Tuesday. “We are still working on the details related to the new department, including its English name,” a Culture Ministry official from the Planning and Coordination Office, Shim Min-seok, told The Korea Herald on Monday. The new department, which is under the ministry’s Content Policy Bureau, will have nine members. “We were

Culture June 8, 2020

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is due to establish a separate department within the ministry to support the Korean Wave by June or July at the latest. While the ministry declined to give a specific opening date for the new department, saying it will make the announcement when the details have been confirmed, the decision was made on May 12 during the meeting of a pan-government Hallyu cooperation committee, which includes representatives from 12 ministries. While this marks the f

Culture June 8, 2020

The lead track of “D-2,” released in May by Suga of K-pop sensation BTS, has sparked global fans’ interest in traditional Korean music. The title of the piece, “Daechwita,” refers to a genre of traditional Korean music that was performed at a king’s parade and other military ceremonies. The music consists mainly of wind instruments and percussion instruments. The new hip-pop track, which was created based on the traditional sound source provided by the Na

Performance June 7, 2020

Culture Minister Park Yang-woo on Wednesday evening held a videoconference with British counterpart Oliver Dowden and shared Korea’s experience with COVID-19 safety guideline compliance in performing venues. According to the ministry, the videoconference took place at the request of Britain, which sought advice and guidance related to preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus, especially in the cultural sector. During the videoconference, Dowden asked about Korea’s experienc

Performance June 4, 2020