Yu Hong-jun, Director of the National Museum of Korea, and Park Jang-beom, President of KBS (from left) Provided by KBS

A historic meeting between K-culture and global public media will take place this fall.

KBS and the National Museum of Korea have joined forces to ensure the successful hosting of the Public Broadcasters International (PBI) General Assembly in Seoul this October and to promote the international dissemination of Korean cultural heritage.

On the 7th, KBS President Park Jang-beom and National Museum of Korea Director Yu Hong-jun signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the National Museum of Korea and agreed to jointly promote a range of cultural cooperation projects on the occasion of the PBI Seoul General Assembly, which will be held under the theme ‘The Role of Public Media in Reviving Tradition and Culture’.

In particular, during the assembly, the two institutions plan to present Music Bank in the outdoor spaces of the National Museum of Korea to introduce Korean traditional culture and arts to leaders of public broadcasters worldwide. They also plan to co-curate a special exhibition using the only domestic broadcast archive of 1.11 million hours held by KBS. In addition, inspired by the recent popularity at home and abroad of ‘Gukjungbak goods’, they agreed to cooperate on the production of ‘PBI Seoul General Assembly limited souvenirs’ that make use of Korean cultural heritage.

KBS plans to actively promote the main cultural heritage and content of the National Museum of Korea through its domestic and international broadcast channels and digital platforms, and to help globalize Korean culture.

Yu Hong-jun, Director of the National Museum of Korea, said, “Gaining the opportunity to inform the entire public, through public broadcasting, of the significance of the artifacts housed at the National Museum of Korea is, I believe, the best promotional effect for our museum in reaching people”, and added, “I approached the signing of this MOU with great pleasure”.

Park Jang-beom, President of KBS, said, “The center and source of the K-wave is our culture, and the place where the essence of that culture is gathered is the National Museum of Korea”, and added, “As ‘Music Bank’, which will be held as a free performance, takes place at Gukjungbak, we expect many tourists to visit”. He went on to say, “I thank Director Yu Hong-jun for readily giving us the opportunity to make what is truly the premier event of the PBI General Assembly happen at Gukjungbak, imbued with our traditional culture, where K-pop and broadcasting industry representatives will come together”.

The assembly, to be held over three days from October 14 to 16 in Yeouido, Seoul, at ‘Fairmont Ambassador Seoul’, is expected to draw 200 to 300 participants, including CEOs of public broadcasters from about 40 countriessuch as the BBC in the United Kingdom and NHK in Japanand heads of major international media organizations.

Established in 1990, PBI (Public Broadcasters International) is the only global consultative body that brings together the top executives of major public broadcasters, including the BBC in the United Kingdom, Japan’s NHK, Canada’s CBC, and Australia’s ABC. Each year, it holds a general assembly to discuss the public value of public media and strategies to respond to changes in the global media environment.

KBS serves as a full member and a steering committee member of PBI representing the Republic of Korea, and, following 2007 and 2018, will host the PBI General Assembly in Seoul for the third time this year.