Why Did Kim Mi-kyung, Eunpyeong District Mayor, Launch the Jingwan Forum for the Fusion of Culconomics and Korean Culture?

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[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) has decided to launch the knowledge and culture community 'Jingwan Forum' to allow private sector wisdom and expertise to participate in refining and realizing the blueprint of its core policy vision, Eunpyeong Culturenomics.

Kim Mi-kyung, Mayor of Eunpyeong-gu, stated, "Recently, China has claimed the origin of kimchi and hanbok, and a drama criticized for evoking the Northeast Project under the influence of Chinese capital was even suspended from airing due to viewer movements. We planned a forum named after 'Jingwansa,' a representative cultural heritage of Eunpyeong-gu, with the thought that Eunpyeong-gu should take the lead in protecting our culture and simultaneously develop into a signature cultural city."

Eunpyeong Culturenomics plans to attract the floating population of Sangam DMC, a popular destination for Hallyu culture tourists with various broadcasting stations and content production facilities, to the cultural and artistic hub along Bulgwangcheon Stream connected through DMC Station. Furthermore, it aims to create an Eunpyeong cultural tourism belt that visitors can explore, including Innovation Park, the spearhead of Seoul's cultural innovation, and cultural and artistic hubs in Jingwan-dong such as the Korean Culture Experience Center, Hanok Village, Artists' Village, and the National Korean Literature Museum.

Accordingly, Eunpyeong-gu envisions establishing regional infrastructure for K-Entertainment by creating a Hallyu culture experience space and a 'K-pop Music Center' (tentative name) along Bulgwangcheon Stream, following the previously planned media center supporting one-person broadcasting facilities.

This Eunpyeong Culturenomics concept reflects the trend of convergence between Hallyu culture and traditional culture.

Iconic figures of Hallyu culture, such as BTS performing hits like 'Dynamite' in hanbok at Gyeongbokgung Palace, broadcasted on NBC's flagship program 'The Tonight Show,' Blackpink appearing in hanbok in the 'How You Like That' music video, and the introduction of Joseon Dynasty costumes through the Netflix original drama series 'Kingdom,' have sparked interest in traditional Korean attire on social media.

Among foreigners exposed to K-pop, K-drama, and other K-Entertainment content, interest in traditional Korean culture is explosively increasing, and the number of foreigners wanting to learn the Korean language is also rising.

Amid this global trend, Eunpyeong-gu has set an ambitious plan to emerge as a signature cultural city in the metropolitan area encompassing both traditional Korean culture and Hallyu culture.

Mayor Kim Mi-kyung emphasized, "Now is an unparalleled important time to protect the identity of our culture and for the development roadmap of Eunpyeong-gu," adding, "We want to create the Jingwan Forum so that the future of Eunpyeong-gu can be collectively envisioned by its residents and the cultural and artistic community, especially reflecting the creativity of young people."

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