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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

New Shift in International Exchange Activities

The Korea Foundation Cultural Center represents an "open space for globalization," which is designed to enable Koreans as well as foreign residents in Korea to experience and understand a diverse variety of cultures.

Background and ives
Since its establishment in 1992, the Korea Foundation has focused on overseas activities and programs to make Korean culture better known to the world. As such, the Foundation has implemented academic, cultural and personnel exchange programs to enhance the image of Korea in other countries, and as a result, "activities to make Korea known" abroad are being carried out in various ways. However, efforts to introduce the cultures of other countries to Korea have been somewhat lacking, so there has been a constant need to bolster two-way cultural exchange.
Recently, the number of foreigners residing in Korea on a long-term basis has surged dramatically as well. With the addition of foreign workers from various cultural backgrounds to the existing group of foreign residents, mostly comprised of diplomats, businesspeople, U.S. military personnel, and scholars, Seoul has since emerged as an international city with a multicultural community. Understanding other cultures has become ever more important for people from such diverse political, religious and cultural backgrounds to live together in a harmonious environment. For this, ongoing and varied programs, rather than one-time events, and a regular venue for such activities, have become necessary.

Programs
Programs of the Korea Foundation Cultural Center are centered on three basic ives. First, understanding of culture through "art." The center will organize or support cultural and artistic programs, including exhibitions, cinema-screenings, and small-scale performances. These programs will most effectively introduce the culture of a country or a region through various audio-visual media, thereby providing visitors with an opportunity to quickly gain an insightful understanding.
Second, as a regular venue for "meeting and communication." Effective exchange is based on people-to-people interaction, while deeper and wider understanding about each other can be facilitated through dialogue. Such meeting and communication among people from different ways of living and backgrounds, and especially of different nationalities, are of the utmost importance. Seminars, lectures, and small-group meetings at the center are expected to contribute much to bringing the world closer together.
Third, sharing of globalization information. Things seen, heard, encountered, or communicated can be confirmed and more clearly understood through books or information on the Internet. The center will thus house books and materials not only about Korea but also about other countries in general. For this purpose, related materials are being acquired with the cooperation of foreign diplomatic missions in Korea.

Program Direction
Beyond the efforts to help foreigners understand Korean culture and for Koreans to experience foreign cultures, the center pursues "cultural diversity" and "open space" so that Koreans and foreigners with interests in other cultures, regardless of their nationalities, can come together to share and exchange cultural experiences.
When the center is open in the second half of 2005, all its facilities will be made available for free-of-charge for the remainder of the year. Visitors are welcome to use the center facilities for exhibitions, seminars, and film-screenings for no charge. Admission to all the events to be held at the center will be free, except when event organizers are required to charge a fee. The center's library resources are available for free as well.

Roles of the KF Center
The Korea Foundation Cultural Center is intended to augment the programs for cultural exchange and understanding currently being implemented in Korea. The government and private organizations have long been conducting various programs to introduce Korean culture to foreigners in Korea, and several organizations are known to have interest in or are already implementing programs to promote intercultural understanding. By offering a permanent space to enable such intercultural programs in various forms to be carried out on a continuous basis and linking together related programs and organizations, the Korea Foundation Cultural Center seeks to play a role as a multifaceted venue and bridgehead for cultural diplomacy under a pluralized environment, and moreover contribute to the globalization of Korean culture and art.
Finally, the center facilities, currently under construction, will include rooms for exhibitions, seminars, and film-screenings, as well as a library. The center will be open to general public visitors from late June.

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