Cultural and artistic experts gather to discuss the direction of cultural arts policies.
The Cultural Power Network, chaired by Lee Woo-jong, will hold the '2nd Cultural Power National Assembly Forum' at 10 a.m. on the 7th in Room 2 of the National Assembly Member's Hall. The discussion will focus on the philosophy and sustainability of South Korea's cultural policy.
This forum is co-hosted by lawmakers Kang Yu-jeong (Democratic Party's Special Committee on Culture and Arts), Kim Yoon-deok, Min Hyoung-bae, Park Soo-hyun, Yang Moon-seok, Lee Gi-heon, Lim Oh-kyung, Jeon Jae-soo, and Jo Gye-won.
The forum aims to explore a philosophical and practical direction for cultural arts policies that transcend mere administration or industrial promotion, allowing creators and citizens, as well as local and central authorities, to coexist.
Professor Choi Jun-ho from the Korea National University of Arts will serve as the moderator. He is an expert who has connected theory and policy in the cultural and arts fields. He will lead the presentations and discussions during the forum.
Lawmaker Kang Yu-jeong will deliver the keynote speech. She will state, "Cultural policy should be approached as a matter of citizens' lives and rights, not as a political tool." She is expected to emphasize the need to reconstruct policies using the languages of relationships, sensations, art, and life.
Presentations will be made by Professor Kim Hyun-hwan from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Lee Won-jae, an adjunct professor at Kyung Hee Cyber University and chairman of the Cultural Solidarity. Professor Kim will outline the philosophical basis for designing cultural policies and present the fundamental structure and direction of these policies.
Professor Lee will lead the discussion on 'The Sustainability of Cultural Policy,' arguing that cultural policies should shift from a focus on short-term results to a mindset of life. He will also propose practical tasks that should be undertaken in line with this perspective.
The ensuing discussion will feature three experts who reflect on the realities of policy implementation. The first discussant will be music director Bang Seong-il, known for his work on the soundtracks for dramas like 'Parks So Far Gone' and 'My Mister.'
Director Bang will convey the necessity for the protection of rights and improvements in unfair contract structures from the field perspective. The second discussant is Ko Dong-hyun, a senior researcher at Yonsei University’s Research Institute for Social Development.
He will diagnose the structural problems of centralized cultural policy and suggest data-driven, locally tailored policy designs and paths to cultural decentralization. The final discussant will be Soh Hong-sam, former head of the Uijeongbu Cultural Foundation.
Soh will emphasize that cultural institutions must evolve beyond mere service execution organizations to become self-governed planning and operational entities, and highlight the necessity for institutional supplements and budget structure reforms to achieve this.
Lee Woo-jong, chairman of the Cultural Power Network, stated, "At this turning point in cultural policy, whether South Korea remains a nation of cultural lag or becomes a cultural power depends on how well we are prepared."
He added, "I hope this forum will provide an opportunity to specify the philosophy and strategic implementation of cultural policies," and remarked that "We all have a responsibility to respond to the 'light cheering sticks' created by citizens with cultural arts."
<Photo credit: Cultural Power Network>
