I
THE
INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL SOCIETY OF KOREA
IMOVE FOR GLOBAL FRIENDSHIP
CONTENTS
PREFACE 1
GOALS OF ICSK 3
PROGRAMS & ACTIVITIES 5
INTRODUCTION 7
INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL
EXCHANGE PROGRAMS 8
Invitational Activities/International Events in Korea/Overseas Exhibitions &- Performances/Evenings of Cultural Exchanges / Photos &• Paintings Exhibitions
KOREAN ARTS AND CULTURE PROGRAM ... 26
PUBLICATIONS 31
Korea Newsreview/Ajia Koron (Asian Public Opinions)
INFORMATION SERVICE AND OTHERS 32
Korean Materials Center/Cultural Film Presentation
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SERVICES 33
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE FINANCE
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PREFACE
Never before in the history of mankind has man been so interdependent and interactive as he is today. Growing economic interdependence between resource-rich and technologically advanced nations, increasing political and social interactions among all nations, the development of instant tele- communication and supersonic transportation systems — all these have closely linked the Family of Nations and reduced the world community to a global village. To be sure, no nation nowadays can exist in isolation.
In this era of mutual interdependence and interaction among nations, what is urgently called for is the promotion of mutual understanding and cooperation among all peoples for the common goal of preserving world peace and individual wellbeing. In response to this global challenge, cultural ex- changes and direct people-to-people contacts are taken as the immediate means readily available to us.
As a step toward meaningful participation in this cultural exchange, each society must have a full understanding of its own unique cultural orientations and value systems. This is particularly important for smaller and lesser known cultures such as ours. For we are at the crossroad of joining the ranks of the dominant cultural systems. Without clear comprehension and recognition of the innate values and merits of each culture, global harmony based upon diversity will never be achieved.
The International Cultural Society of Korea proudly assumes the role of in- troducing our own cultural heritage to the members of the global village, and thereby aims to participate in, and to contribute to, the global effort for the promotion of better understanding among the different peoples through cultural exchanges and direct people-to-people contacts.
This guidebook has been prepared to explain the goals and programs of this Society to all those foreign friends who are interested in knowing what Korea is all about.
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GOALS OF ICSK
Three major Goals of ICSK are Mutual Un- derstanding, Global Friendship and World Peace:
UNDERSTANDING MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Understanding
others begins with one’s cognizance of one’s own national and individual identity. Without knowing one’s own identity and cultural heritage, knowing others will hardly be possible. Clear ideas about individual identity are prerequisite to arriving at mutual understanding. For this end, we provide an opportunity for others to know us and for us to know others.
FRIENDSHIP GLOBAL FRIENDSHIP: Friendship is a product
of empathy based upon mutual understanding. As such, friendship among people is the foundation for harmony in the world community. For this end, we commit ourselves to the establishment of com- munal friendship through cultural exchange.
PEACE WORLD PEACE: Peace, a product of mutual understanding and communal friendship, is our ultimate goal. To remove the barriers and hin- drances to the establishment of durable peace from this global village, we dedicate ourselves to the promotion of cultural exchange and people-to- people contacts.
To attain these goals — Understanding, Friend- ship and Peace — ICSK is actively engaged in the promotion of cultural exchange and in the cementing of ties between members of the global community.
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Former Korean War correspon- dents pay tribute before a War Correspondents Memorial dedicated to the memory of 18 Korean War correspondents, who sacrificed their lives for the cause of peace in Korea. (April 1977)
PROGRAMS
&
ACTIVITIES
NTRODUCTION
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ICSK offers various cultural programs and services to all foreign friends in order to promote friendship among different peoples, which we believe will contribute to international peace and individual prosperity throughout the world.
For this end, ICSK organizes and sponsors extensive exchange programs for artists, writers, scholars, journalists, and other leading personalities from all walks of life. The ex- changes and contacts among these people have been actively undertaken by ICSK; it conducts academic conferences and cultural events on various issues of mutual concern.
ICSK is also actively engaged in the establish- ment of a closer bond with the ever-increasing foreign community in Korea. Our Korean Arts and Culture Program — a biannual educational and recreational series on Korean arts, cultural life and history — has been well received by foreign residents in Korea for its in- formativeness.
Year-round cultural events, festivals and entertainment programs have continued to attract larger and larger audiences and a greater number of supporters from all segments of local foreign communities.
Our latest addition, the Evening of Cross- Cultural Friendship, which was held at the National Theater, was an overwhelming success, attended by more than 2,000 en- thusiastic foreign residents in Korea.
For visiting foreign travelers, a wealth of information on all aspects of Korean life and culture is readily available at the Korean Materials Center, which we operate at Korea House.
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INTERNATIONAL
CULTURAL
EXCHANGE
PROGRAMS
Archduke Otto von Habsburg, the former crown prince of Austria (center), and his wife are greeted by Sung Chu! Hong (March 1976).
Three journalists of a Canadian television, CFCF-TV, are greeted by Sung Chu! Hong upon arrival at Kimpo Airport. They are John Edward Mackey, general manager, Jimmy Tapp, a news commentator, and George J. Ferguson, a news director, all of CFCF (July 1976).
British poet Stephen Spender (center) examines a Koryo celadon with his wife (left), and Dr. Okgill Kim, president of Ewha Woman's University (September 1977).
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Invitational Activities
Under the exchange visit program ICSK extends invitations to distinguished members of academic, artistic and journalistic communities in foreign coun- tries to visit Korea.
The primary purpose in inviting foreign intellectuals to Korea is to afford them an opportunity to share their special knowledge with Korean counterparts through public seminars and lectures. Intellectual dialogues have proven to be a most stimulating and rewarding experience for all participants.
ICSK also arranges and sponsors Korean scholars and artists to go abroad for lectures and exhibitions. Such two-way communications greately facilitate a better mutual understanding and friendship.
For those professional people who are traveling in Korea independently or under an organizational sponsorship, ICSK furnishes assistance to make their professional activities more productive.
The exchange of visits by fine and performing artists and creative writers is further promoted bv holding and sponsoring international conferences, symposiums, exhibitions, concerts, the dispatch of Korean artists overseas, exchanges with cultural organizations abroad, and collaborative cultural festivals with Korean residents abroad.
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Eugene Ionesco, a French playwright, delivers a lecture on his theater movement (April 1977).
Capacity crowd of audience listening to Ionesco's lecture in Seoul.
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Morton A. Kaplan, a reputed professor of international politics at the Univer- sity of Chicago, receives an honorary membership certificate of ICSK from Sung Chu! Hong (February 1977).
Romanian novelist Virgil Gheorghiu (right) and Archbishop Paul M. Ro (July 1976).
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In a television interview. Earnest W. Lefever, a professor of Georgetown University in the United States, talks with a Ko- rean commentator (August 1977}.
Dr. Thomas Kim (center}, dean of McMurry College, Tex., and his family visit the campus of Seoul National University where they are shown a scale mode! of the university's new campus com- plex (April 1977}.
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Cardinal Paul Yu Pin of the Republic of China includes his name in the list of prominent visitors to the Republic of Korea (April 1976).
John R. Howard, president of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., receives an honorary doctorate from Hanyang University in Seoul (August 1977).
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Clockwise: Some 60 Korean War correspondents gather together on an old battlefield to attend ceremonies to unveil a War Correspondents Memorial; A nearby village, Pongso-ri, was .honored to establish a sisterhood relationship with the former war scribes, who collected some 507,057 won (US$1,014) from their own pockets to be used for the village's community development projects. The village was renamed the Village of 18 Trees, symbolizing the fallen journalists; Sung Chul
Hong receives the cash donation from John H. Rich, a represen- tative of the visiting ex-journalists group; Hong delivers the money to Kim Kap-su, Saemaul (New Community) leader of the village; Korean War correspondents try striking "Emile Bell" in Pulkuksa Temple at Kyongju, ancient capita! of SiHa Dynasty; A Korean War scribe pays tribute to his colleagues before altar; A former Korean War correspondent sits in prayer before a tombstone at the U.N. Cemetery in Pusan.
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International Events In Korea
ASIAN ARTISTS ASSEMBLY
U.S. SPORTS MISSION
REVISIT OF KOREAN WAR SCRIBES
4 Members of theJeunesses Musicales World Orchestra play a number under the baton of French conductor Serge Baudo at the National Theater in the opening-day per- formance of the 20th World Congress and 32nd General Assembly of the Federation Internationale des Jeunesses Musicales (FIJM) (August 1977).
SOME EXAMPLES:
In July 1976 ICSK organized and cosponsored the first East Asian Artists Assembly. The gathering was held at Walker Hill Hotel in Seoul and was attended by artists from the Republic of China, Japan, the United States and Korea. Discussions centered on Korea’s role in the East Asian Triangle as a link and transmission belt to the flow of various cultures.
In August of the same year ICSK coordinated an 18-day, 11-game goodwill baseball series for U.S. Bicentennial sports mission made up of the U.S. Amateur All Star team and assorted Korean amateur teams.
In April 1977 ICSK sponsored a revisit program for foreign newspapermen who served as correspondents during the Korean War. The war scribes were invited on the occasion of the dedication of a monument erected in memory of 18 Korean and foreign journalists killed during the war. During their revisit they were given an opportunity to observe first hand the changes that occurred during the past years. Travel to the countryside was an excellent way of ob- serving the extent of progress that this country has made since those dark years of the Korean War.
In the coming years roving overseas ex- positions by various Korean artists will be in- creased and they are expected to play a very vital role in expanding Korea’s cultural and friendship ties with other nations.
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Some 40 Asian artists meet at Walker Hill Hotel in Seoul to share the growing community feeling. The first East Asian Artists Assembly was held in July 1976 under the cosponsorship of ICSK, the Center for Asian Arts in the United States, and the Tokyo Institute for Korean Studies.
Asian artists view a Korean mask dance, called Bongsan Talchum, on their trip to Yangju. (June 1976).
Presbyterian women's conference is held in Seoul (November 1977).
A Japanese woman presents her feat at the Evening of Exchange of ROK-Japanese Poems in Seoul (November 1976).
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Members of the U.S. amateur all- star baseball team visit Korea to play goodwill games with Korean baseball teams (July 1976).
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ICSK hosts a Night of Chamber Music, performed by seven music talents, including pianists Shin Soo-jong and Lee Sneider, wife of the American ambassador in Seoul, at the National Theater (July 1977).
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Overseas Exhibitions & Performances
Korean cultural treasures and artifacts on an overseas tour make the target of all eyes.
Dressed in colorful Korean costume, a Korean dancing troupe on their tour in Hawaii performs a lively Korean folk dance.
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Together with invitation programs ICSK sponsors travel programs for Korean artists and intellectuals to visit foreign nations so that their creative talents can be demonstrated on an exchange basis.
As the first step toward this exchange, ICSK took the initiative in January 1978 to sponsor a performance tour in America of a reputed Korean folk music and dancing troupe on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Korean
emigration to Hawaii. Additionally, exhibitions of cultural arts and prize-winning photos depicting modern Korea, which were selected at a photo contest in Korea, have been displayed throughout the United States.
Programs and projects such as these are typical of our work in the promotion of cultural exchange and they will remain important parts of ICSK undertakings in the years to come.
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Evenings of Cultural Exchanges
FRIENDSHIP EVENINGS
CROSS-CULTURAL FRIENDSHIP
This is our latest program designed to promote friendship and community relations among foreign and local residents. Performances of folk music, dances and songs by both local and foreign residents at evening gatherings are both an educational and enjoyable way of sharing what each people cherish as their own heritage.
The program was initiated in the fall of 1976 with the Evening of International Friendship and Cultural Exchange, a one-night get-together for resident and visiting foreign professors and students. Such get-togethers are an excellent means of establishing friendship bonds at the personal level.
The program was so well received and earned such enthusiastic support from the ever-growing foreign community in Korea that a larger program was introduced on November 21, 1977. Over 2,000 foreign participants, including almost all foreign ambassadors assigned in Seoul, at- tended the Evening of Cross-Cultural Friend- ship, a highly enjoyable international festival.
The true meaning of cross-cultural friendship was undoubtedly shared by all participants when foreigners, young and old, dressed in traditional Korean costumes, performed various Korean native folk songs and dances as well as the songs and dances from their native lands.
In response to the immense success and popularity of the program, it was developed into a regular weekly program, in 1978. Every Friday evening ICSK will host the Evening of Cultural Exchanges for country after country.
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K Foreigners teaching or studying at Korean univer- sities enjoy a vocal per- formance during the ig Evening of International Friendship and Cultural Ex - change. (November 1976).
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^ Foreign audiences give big hands to performances by nation after nation.
"Nongak,” a play of traditional Korean farmer's dance and music, is performed in all joviality.
Malaysian young girls and boys sing together.
( Below right) A choir of foreign school children in Seoul sing and dance. (Below) Dressed in their own unique costume, a group of Indian amateur dancers perform an Indian folk dance.
Photos & Paintings Exhibitions
ICSK has also reached out for another important area of international cultural exchange by sponsoring exhibitions of photos and paintings by foreign and Korean photographers and artists.
In 1977 we sponsored a modern Turkish photo exhibition in Seoul, which reflects the ever-expanding horizons of our international cultural exchange. And a photo contest, which was also held in that year under our sponsorship, at- tracted a good many excellent photos depicting modern Korea by American military personnel serving in Korea.
In that year, we invited Mrs. Jun F. Park, a prominent New York-based Korean woman painter, to show her paintings in Seoul
Park’s modern paintings, pursuing a simple harmony in her unique geometric patterns in bright colors, were on display at the National Museum of Modem Art at Toksu Palace for a week in March 1977.
Korean and foreign art lovers view Jun F. Park's modern paintings on display at the National Museum of Modern Art (March 1977).
A Turkish photos exhibition held in Seoul attracts a crowd of Korean viewers (November 1977).
KOREAN ARTS AND CULTURE PROGRAM
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ICSK has organized a biannual Korean Arts and Culture Program for the purpose of familiarizing foreign residents and visitors with the people and culture of Korea.
Through this familiarization study program in the fields of Korean history, religion, and some in- teresting folk arts, foreigners are acquiring a better understanding of
the Korean people and their cultural life.
All phases of the program are carried out under the direct supervision of Korean specialists in given fields and the programs are augmented by noted guest lecturers when appropriate.
In addition to formal classroom instructions, special efforts are
< Foreign women in Seoul practice Oriental brush painting with India ink.
Foreign women learn the skills of flower arrangement in a cultural arts program.
A foreign instruptor teaches a class of students, enrolled for the Korean Arts and Culture Program.
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made to create an intellectual at- mosphere in which persons of various nationalities and backgrounds can regularly meet in a convivial setting and exchange personal views and experiences not only about Korea but about them- selves and their native lands.
KOREAN LIFE
By way of introducing foreign residents to Korea’s past, a brief survey of Korean history is offered. Particular emphasis is placed on Korean Buddhism, the Buddhist sects and their philosophies, Con- fucian culture, the influence of Christianity on the Korean way of life, Korean ceramic art, Korean literature, the thought and practice of Shamanism and the sciences of acupuncture and traditional herb medicine. Early Western influence on Korea is also examined.
Courses include several tours to
cultural sites, illustrative and in- formative slide and film presen- tations and group discussions.
Particularly popular with foreign ladies is a separate portion of the program dealing with traditional Korean folk arts and crafts. The program includes Oriental brush painting, flower arranging, silk embroidery and Korean cooking and dancing. These classes are super- vised by professional artists.
A Korean language course is another part of the program. This course has been widely attended and actively supported by many mem- bers of the various foreign com- munities in Korea. Classes are divided into three levels — begin- ning, intermediate and advanced — so that foreigners can learn the Korean language systematically depending upon their level of linguistic competence.
Students examine a huge dolmen during their study trip to Kanghwa-do island.
Students study a great Buddhist bell housed in a tHe-roofed kiosk in the neigh- borhood of an old Koryo palace site. History says the French started to carry it off, but gave up halfway to the ferry lan- ding, leaving it in the road when they were retreating from their invasion into the island in 1866.
Koreans and foreigners view a Korean mask dance show performed after graduation ceremonies for foreigners who studied under a cultural program of ICS K.
Some assiduous foreign students present their own Oriental brush paintings and other artworks when they finish classes in the program.
Some of their art works are considered “ex- cellent” by specialists.
PUBLICATIONS
In addition to the production and distribution of culture-related publications, ICSK publishes two foreign language periodicals designed to keep our friends abreast of socio-political current events and cultural activities in and around Korea.
Korea Newsreview
Korea Newsreview is published weekly in both English and French. The magazine contains summaries of major news events transpiring around the country; thus it provides foreign readers and Koreans residing abroad with a convenient means of keeping pace with Korea’s latest cultural, economic, political and sports happenings. Korea Newsreview is presently circulated in 126 foreign countries.
Ajia Koron (Asian Public Opinions)
Ajia Koron (Asian Public Opinions) is a monthly magazine printed in Japanese and is aimed at keeping the neighboring nation aware of intellectual undercurrents and socio-political developments in Korea.
Foreigners keep themselves informed of current news and events happening in Korea by reading Korea Newsreview,. an English-language weekly news magazine published by ICSK.
Ajia Koron, a monthly in Japanese of articles and com- mentaries, has a wide readership in Japan.
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INFORMATION SERVICE
AND OTHERS
In conjunction with the formal courses, ICSK has undertaken a number of inde- pendent activities for the purpose of assisting foreigners in their studies about Korea.
Korean Materials Center
At Korea House ICSK has been operating the Korean Materials Center, a book center containing over 3,000 volumes of materials, printed in foreign languages, dealing with assorted Korean subjects. The center also maintains some 500 assorted brochures, pamphlets and other printed materials dealing with a wide range of subject mat- ters. The center allows certain materials to be removed from the center on a short term loan basis.
Cultural Film Presentation
In addition, each year ICSK arranges for the presentation of documentary and cultural films which depict various forms of social and economic development, cultural activities and fine arts. These showings are conducted on an irregular basis and are open to the general public.
Foreigners in Korea consult with books at Korean Materials Center in Korea House.
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INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE
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SERVICES |
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KOREA S STATURE |
As Korea has risen in international stature, the Republic has often been selected as the site for numerous in- ternational gatherings. However, ideal conditions and certain special requirements are not always readily available for those who attend such conferences. In addition to adequate housing facilities there must be adequate means for com- munication among all participants in order to insure the success of these gatherings. In order to achieve effective communication some sort of auxiliary services are |
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CONFERENCE SERVICE |
necessary. To help meet the rising needs for in- ternational conference services in Korea, ICSK has decided to inaugurate an Inter- national Conference Bureau. The bureau will be the first of its kind in Korea to aid in organizing and enhancing international conferences. The conference service will be equipped to include, among others, simultaneous or subsequent interpreter service for all types of international meetings including scholastic seminars, symposiums and lectures held in Korea. |
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ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
GENERAL CONVENTION
The General Convention of Members constitutes the highest deliberative organ which acts on business plans, budgetary appropriations and financial settlement. It also elects the society’s president and auditors.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The president and directors form the board of directors which acts on agenda submitted by the General Convention and matters pertaining to their implementation.
The president nominates a counselor and an advisory board representing a cross section of the nation’s cultural circles. They are chosen from among distinguished personalities who are in a position to contribute significantly to promoting the inter-
cultural activities of this si ICSK has 12 ex-officio di
DIRECTORS
President of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry
President of the Korea Trade Promotion Corporation
President of Hapdong News Agency
President of the Korean National Tourism Corporation
SECRETARIAT
ectors under the president.
President of the Korean Traders Association
President of the Korean Newspaper Association
President of the Orient Press Corporation
President of the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation
President of the Federation of Korean Industries
President of the Korean Broadcasters Association
President of the Korea Federation of Cultural and Art Organizations
President of the Korea Information Service, Inc.
ICSK has an efficient executive secretariat under its chief policy-making Board of Directors. The secretariat, headed by the Secretary General, assists the executive office of the President in the execution of ICSK functions.
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FINANCE
CONTRIBUTING MEMBERSHIP ICSK has a solid membership of some 200
private business enterprises which have been making voluntary contributions to meet the financial needs for our activities and programs.
NONPOLITICAL AIMS ICSK receives no financial assistance
from any organizations which pursue political aims and is in no way affiliated with foreign or domestic political affairs. All finance are acquired from well established and strictly nongovernmental sources.
CULTURAL CENTER ICSK is now raising funds for the con- struction of a multi-purpose Cultural Center. The projected center will be equipped with modern facilities including a spacious International Conference Hall, an Exhibition Hall, a Concert Hall and guest rooms for our foreign visitors.
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Any inquires about the contents of this publication and official correspondence with the International Cultural Society of Korea should be addressed to:
FRIENDLY TIES
Clasping hands among different peoples from diverse cultural backgrounds is the ultimate ICSK ^|oal.
To this end, ICSK is constantly » \
striving to cement friendly ties, whi9h bind all peace-loving peoples together under the banner of world peace. ■ , '
INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL SOCIETY OF KOREA
SilljiH 3Si 34-5 • C. P 0 Box 2 147 SEOUL, 'koREA