The Korean Cultural Centre UK, which is located by popular landmark Trafalgar Square, London, have plans to become the centre of K-pop culture in Europe.
Won YongGi, director of Korean Cultural Center, was recently awarded in Seoul for his promotion of Korean Culture in the UK by Culture Minister Choe KwangShik.
Won YongGi spoke in an interview with the Korea Herald about The Korean Culture Centre UK’s (KCCUK) Latest project; The K-pop Academy; which is a 12 week course, that meets every Saturday at the KCC.
“Korean pop music already has a remarkable cult youth following, but needs more support to expand its fan base in Europe. The aim of the course, is to provide K-pop fans with a firm grounding in the history of the emergence of the Korean cultural phenomenon, including an understanding of Korea’s history, culture and language.”
Won YongGi then went on to say “This course will encourage K-pop fans to learn more about the culture of Korea. We hope to produce leaders, who can promote and spread it to the world” .
This saturday will be the 6th week of the course, which we have been providing coverage of. The 30 students have already appeared on YTN aswell as learn about Korea’s history, Hangeul (The modern writing system), Korean Cuisine, K-pop dances, and Korean film/war. This week the 30 delegates will be visiting the Ambassadors residence.
Won YongGi has stated that he plans to run the course twice and year, and hope to continue to expand it slowly.
Won YongGi is currently visiting Seoul to attend a meeting with other directors of KCC across the world and officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism. There is a chance that other Korean Cultural Centers across the world will start up a program similarly to what the KCCUK has been offering.
“Our center has a relatively short history, but is attracting increasing number of young people. Located just next to the landmark Trafalgar Square, the center is already a popular spot for Londoners. Despite its short-history ― the KCC opened in 2008 ― it now attracts tens of thousands visitors every year. We’ll continue to develop more programs to help expand the Korean culture frenzy in Europe”.
The Korean cultural centre has also helped to raise a group of Korean film fans with its annual film festival. It also attends the Thames Festival each summer to promote Korean Culture.
Then in 2010 the Korean Cultural Centre UK held charitable auction to raise funds for veterans of the Korean War, inwhich they invited 40 Korean Artists to produce artwork about the war.
In 2011 the KCC held a K-pop contest in co-operation with YG Entertainment, and Organised a K-pop night inwhich over 600 people attended! The Winner of the contest was able to meet 2NE1, and go to their first solo concert: Nolza
“The summer Olympics in London are set to be big for the KCC, who are planning on hosting events to promote Korean culture, including K-pop concerts and arts exhibitions, at the South Bank Center in London during the Olympics” Won YongGi said.
Source: The Korea Herald
