The International Cultural Society of Korea: On the Move for Global Friendship

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

34

35

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.

1

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.

3

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

t

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.

7

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).

8

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.

9

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.

10

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).

11

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}.

12

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).

13

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.

14

15

V 3

16

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.

17

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).

18

Members of the U.S. amateur all-
star baseball team visit Korea to
play goodwill games with Korean
baseball teams (July 1976).

i

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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).

19

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.

20

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.

t

21

t

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

26

/

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.

27

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.

31

• . '■

! '

i#'

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.

o

INTERNATIONAL

CONFERENCE

SERVICES

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

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.

33

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.

34

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.

35

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