News

2022.11.22

On November 18 (Friday), the Korea National University of Arts (President Daejin Kim, hereinafter referred to as K'Arts) and the Korea Foundation (KF, Chairman Kihwan Kim) signed a business agreement (MOU) between the institutions during the '5th Public Diplomacy Week' at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP).

This business agreement is particularly noteworthy as it represents a collaboration between institutions that are, respectively, recognized as the premier talent incubator for the arts in South Korea and the only public diplomacy agency designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The MOU between the two institutions aims to utilize their respective capacities and resources in the field of cultural and artistic exchange to enhance mutual understanding between Korea and other countries, and to jointly contribute to the promotion of universal human values.

As the first example of collaboration between K'Arts and KF, the '5th Public Diplomacy Week' held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) from November 18 (Friday) to 20 (Sunday) featured the premiere of the new VR work 'SAMUL' created by the AT Lab of K'Arts (Director Sngmoo Lee) and the upgraded audience-participation version of the interdisciplinary metaverse performance 'Scarecrow' titled 'Scarecrow AP.' These works were introduced for the first time in Korea and received acclaim from the audience.

President Daejin Kim of K'Arts expressed his delight, saying, “I am very pleased to create an opportunity to contribute to South Korea's cultural public diplomacy activities with our outstanding digital content in collaboration with the Korea Foundation, which is leading the way in introducing Korea to the world through various public diplomacy initiatives. I hope our cooperation will play a role in helping South Korea advance as a culturally advanced nation.

A representative from KF stated, “In the future, we will have various exchanges between our institutions, including joint production of metaverse and immersive content, to introduce Korean culture to the world and bring the diverse cultures of the world to our citizens.” They added, “Especially in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where virtual reality is becoming commonplace in our lives, expect us to show how the fusion of culture, arts, and advanced technology can set new milestones in public diplomacy.”

Moving forward, both institutions plan to closely collaborate in introducing Korean culture to the world, utilizing the unique characteristics and capabilities of each institution to produce and utilize digital content, and to discover and implement cooperative projects.