On April 20, the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Oleksandr Tkachenko, and his deputies, Anastasia Bondar and Taras Shevchenko, held a meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to Ukraine Kim Hyung-Tae at the MCIP. The parties discussed cooperation between the countries in the field of protection, preservation and restoration of Ukrainian cultural heritage, as well as support for Ukrainian cultural institutions, artists and creative industries during the war. Additionally, digitalization and methods to counter russian propaganda and disinformation were discussed.
South Korea has condemned russian aggression in Ukraine and is interested in cooperation with Ukraine. Last year, South Korea provided $100 million aid to Ukraine, and this year it has already allocated $130 million.
“This meeting is an important pillar for the development of bilateral cooperation in the cultural sphere,” said Kim Hyung-Tae, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to Ukraine.
The Minister emphasized that Ukraine currently needs assistance in carrying out conservation and emergency work on damaged or destroyed objects of cultural heritage and infrastructure. This is because russians have already destroyed more than 1,322 cultural objects in Ukraine. At the same time, it is important to counter the illegal movement of Ukrainian cultural values stolen by the russian occupation forces. To achieve this, it is necessary to strengthen institutional cooperation, conduct joint training and exchange experience.
The digital transformation, particularly the digitalization of Ukrainian movable and immovable cultural heritage, is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy today. However, creating the National Registry of Heritage requires equipment for servers and consultations with experts.
“Ukraine is interested in adopting the experience from South Korea in the cultural sphere, particularly in work with technologies in the cultural area, digitalization, and the film industry, including the creation of TV series and the successful functioning of the K-pop culture,” said Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
The Minister also emphasized that Ukraine is currently actively working on the creation of the National Electronic Library of Ukraine and the National System of Centralized Cataloging. They should become a single information system that will contain electronic copies of manuscripts, printed publications (books, magazines, newspapers, maps, etc.), audiovisual documents from the funds of libraries, archives, museums of Ukraine and convenient access to them by users. In this context, the exchange of experience with South Korean experts is extremely important. This concerns the creation of digital museum projects, immersive exhibitions. In this regard, the Ukrainian side proposes to involve South Korean companies that possess the necessary technologies.
The parties agreed to continue consultations on increasing joint cultural events and projects and to strengthen cooperation in order to introduce South Koreans to Ukrainian culture.
