SEOUL — An exhibition highlighting a number of ancient “hallyu” (Korean wave) stars not well known to the world in Korean history kicked off at a museum in Seoul on Thursday.
The 2023 National Brand Up Exhibition, co-organized by the nongovernmental organization Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) and Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s key newswire, opened at an underground path leading from Ichon Station to the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul for a six-day run to reflect on the historical background of hallyu, or the global popularity of Korean pop culture.
This year’s exhibition, the 12th of its kind, will continue through Tuesday under the sponsorship of the Cultural Heritage Administration.
Yonhap and VANK, which internationally promotes South Korea and its history online, have co-hosted the exhibition since 2009 to help increase awareness of the country’s national and cultural brand.
VANK leader Park Ki-tae said this year’s exhibition is intended to show that there were a number of hallyu stars who fascinated people around the world throughout Korea’s 5,000-year history.
They include King Sejong the Great and legendary naval hero Yi Sun-shin, both of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), renowned female independence fighter Yu Gwan-sun (1902-20), King Gwanggaeto the Great of the Goguryeo Kingdom (37 B.C.-A.D. 668), poet Yoon Dongju (1917-1945), Admiral Jang Bogo of the Silla Kingdom (B.C. 57-A.D. 935) and Jang Young-sil, a genius scientist of Joseon, he said.
The exhibition also features rich cultural heritage from Korea’s 5,000-year history, such as hand axes from the old stone age; bronze mirrors from the ancient kingdom Gojoseon; Gaema Musa, a Goguryeo ironclad cavalry armed with steel weaponry; the Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of the Baekje Kingdom (18 B.C.-A.D. 660); gold crowns of Silla; Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) celadon; the Honil Gangni Yeokdae Gukdo map of Joseon; and the March 1, 1919, Independence Movement.
In the exhibition, visitors can also compare the cultures of Korea and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations through the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Brunei; the Shwedagon Pagoda, a sacred place in Myanmar; King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai, the ancient kingdom of Thailand; Cambodia’s Angkor Wat; and Ho Chi Minh, the father of Vietnamese independence.
Seong Ghi-hong, president and CEO of Yonhap News Agency, said at the opening ceremony that the number of hallyu fans is estimated to have topped 150 million and now is the time to seriously think about how to raise the global popularity of hallyu to a new level.
Source: Yonhap News Agency