"Gwanghwamun, a Playground for 5G and Immersive Content... Opening the 'Gwanghwa Era'"

Ministry of Culture and Content Promotion Agency to Sequentially Conduct Projects from March to Year-End Next Year

Kim Young-jun, President of the Korea Creative Content Agency, is explaining the plan to promote the 'Gwanghwasi-dae' project, which will transform the Gwanghwamun area into a 5G and immersive content experience space starting March next year, through the Content Agency's YouTube channel on the 7th.
[Photo by Korea Creative Content Agency]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Seoul’s Gwanghwamun is being transformed into a 'cultural playground' where visitors can experience immersive content such as 5G, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR).

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency announced on the morning of the 7th via the Content Agency’s YouTube channel that they will be launching the 'Gwanghwa Era' project, which offers eight types of immersive content experiences throughout the Gwanghwamun area.

The Gwanghwa Era project will be carried out sequentially from March next year until the end of the year. It aims to provide the public with opportunities to experience new cultural content on mobile devices by integrating advanced 5G-based technologies such as AR, VR, artificial intelligence (AI), and holograms into historical and cultural facilities around Gwanghwamun.

To plan the 'Gwanghwa Era,' the Content Agency formed a team of eight directors in August, including chief planning director Jang Yoo-jung, who directed the film "Finding Mr. Destiny" and the play "Those Days," to complete the detailed planning of the eight immersive content types.

The first content to be experienced is 'Gwanghwagyeong.' Using location-based AR content technology, users can walk around the Gwanghwamun area?such as Woldae site, the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, and in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts?and experience AR overlays of Gwanghwamun’s past, present, and future on the real scenery through their mobile devices. For example, when pointing a smart device at the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, users can see a turtle ship painting the sky on their screen.

There is also 'Gwanghwa Garden,' which will be created inside the Gyeongbokgung Station Seoul Metro Museum of Art. It is a 5G-based digital garden concept in the city. It plans to stream natural scenes such as Jeju Island and the East Sea in real time to provide citizens with a resting space.

From the top left clockwise) Detailed plans of the Gwanghwa Era Project: 'Gwanghwagyeong', 'Gwanghwadam', 'Gwanghwabyeokhwa', 'Gwanghwasu', 'Gwanghwapungnyu'
[Photo by Korea Creative Content Agency]

'Gwanghwadam,' a location-based mission game based on AR, and 'Gwanghwain,' a project where holograms and 3D graphics technology bring King Sejong or K-pop stars to speak to visitors, are content aimed at tourists.

Performance and exhibition projects such as 'Gwanghwapungryu,' which streams performance videos on the outer wall of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, and 'Gwanghwabyeokhwa,' which installs an LED canvas up to 100 meters in size on the outer wall of the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, will also be promoted. In addition, entertainment facilities such as 'Gwanghwasu,' an immersive public sculpture based on big data, and 'Gwanghwajeoncha,' a virtual reality amusement ride, will be prepared.

Earlier, the government announced plans to invest more than 330 billion won by 2025 in fostering immersive content, including the Gwanghwa Era project, as part of the 'Digital New Deal Cultural Content Industry Strategy.' It also plans to train about 1,400 core personnel in AR and VR technologies.

Kim Young-jun, president of the Korea Creative Content Agency, said, "The Gwanghwa Era project will be the first step in pioneering the next-generation global content market," adding, "We hope it will provide fun and vivid immersive content experiences and serve as an opportunity for the public, exhausted by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, to regain vitality."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.