The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism agreed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support the development of arts and creative culture industries in developing countries through official development assistance (ODA) that leverages Korea's cultural capabilities, and to cooperate in spreading the "K-Initiative" using "K-Culture."
The two ministries signed the "Business Agreement for International Development Cooperation in the Cultural Sector and the Global Spread of Korean Culture" in the large conference room of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Seoul branch in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday afternoon. The agreement includes holding councils in the fields of international development cooperation, public diplomacy, and international cultural exchange; cooperation in discovering and planning new international development cooperation projects in the cultural sector; information sharing, project planning, and implementation in public diplomacy and international cultural exchange; and cooperation in spreading the K-Initiative through mutual collaboration on the establishment and operation of Korean Cultural Centers overseas.
"Even though K-Culture is the Republic of Korea's future growth engine, the Culture Ministry's ODA budget still accounts for just 0.18% of the entire government's (ODA) budget," Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young said. "The need for international development cooperation utilizing the strengths of K-Culture is being continuously raised." This year, the Culture Ministry's budget accounts for only 1.08% of the total government budget, meaning its ODA share is far lower than even that.
"Today's agreement holds great significance in that the Foreign Ministry and the Culture Ministry have joined forces to advance toward becoming a cultural powerhouse and a diplomatic powerhouse, amid the rising international stature of Korea, Korean culture, and K-Culture," Choi continued. "Through this cooperation, I hope we can expand cultural ODA utilizing K-Culture, invigorate public diplomacy and international exchange through K-Culture, and make our country an irreplaceable Korea that the entire world needs."
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said, "Diplomacy cannot be considered separately from culture. The Foreign Ministry is like a sibling ministry to the Culture Ministry." He added, "In keeping with our aspiration to be a globally responsible power, we must carry out ODA, that is, foreign aid, efficiently and well. To create synergy and do this efficiently, close working cooperation between the two ministries is needed."
