Culture Ministry plan emphasizes Hangeul, traditional culture

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Tuesday unveiled its second five-year plan, which emphasizes Korean language and traditional culture.

The announcement of the plan, which follows the first plan, which ended in 2019, had been postponed as the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

The new plan includes support for business activities related to traditional culture and Hangeul.

To this end, the ministry will conduct research on traditional materials including Hanji, or traditional mulberry paper, and lacquer starting this year and develop business models by supporting early-stage startups.

The ministry also plans to collect 1 billion phrases in Korean, as a language resource, which will be used for various purposes such as developing voice/text recognition technology, language-based interfaces, and design products using Hangeul.

It will provide support to businesses that develop creative products using the Korean writing system and help with their overseas expansion.

An exhibition on the language culture industry will be hosted by the ministry, showcasing linguistic technologies and the language content industry.

More exhibitions on Hangeul will take place over the next five years worldwide, part of efforts to raise awareness and appreciation of the unique writing system.

The National Museum of World Writing is set to open in May in Songdo, Incheon. The new institution will play a part in honoring and safeguarding the world's various scripts. the ministry said.

The Culture Ministry said it would introduce a series of policies that aims to support the elderly, who are increasingly spending time isolated at home, and younger people.

For instance, a project called, "6070 Storytelling Artists," will discover older women with great storytelling skills. It will be made into a tvN entertainment show which will air in June. Younger generations will be given opportunities to participate in drawing up cultural policies as well as receive financial support for their cultural businesses.

The ministry pointed out that South Korea faces a declining and rapidly aging population as well as a widening cultural gap between large metropolitan areas and rural provinces, along with divisions among different demographic groups.

At the same time, the ministry noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated contact-free culture in many areas while new technologies like artificial intelligence have created new opportunities.