180726_KOCIS_article_01.jpg

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jonghwan (second from right) discusses ways to expand the overseas reach of Korean art, content and tourism with the heads of relevant government organizations, in Seoul on July 26. (Jeon Han)

By Min Yea-Ji and Kim Young Shin 
Seoul | July 26, 2018

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jonghwan emphasized the importance of balanced support for both pop culture and traditional arts to boost exports of Korean content, during a meeting with a range of related cultural organizations on July 26.

Minister Do urged the heads of these cultural organizations to strengthen traditional arts, the origin of all of today’s cultural content, in order to secure markets overseas ground for a “sustainable Hallyu,” referring to the growing popularity of Korean pop music, movies and TV shows in East Asia and elsewhere. “Currently, this ‘Korean Wave’ is concentrated on pop arts, such as pop music and soap operas, but it should include more traditional arts, too, such as literature and performance arts,” said Minister Do.

He highlighted the significance of cooperation, saying, “It will create synergies for the expansion of Hallyu if the relevant organizations were to work together with the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), which operates Korean cultural centers in 32 cities across 27 countries.”

At the meeting were Minister Do, Director Kim Tae-hoon of KOCIS and the heads of nine other cultural organizations, including the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, the Korea Tourism Organizations and the Korea Creative Content Agency.

The leaders of the organizations hold quarterly meetings to discuss ways to further promote Korean arts abroad, from literature to music and both traditional and modern.

180726_KOCIS_article_02.jpg

Heads of government art organizations pose for a photo on July 26. (Heo Manjin, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)

jesimin@korea.kr