Minister Hwang Hee: "Regarding the Chinese Hanbok Controversy, It Was Difficult to Protest as a Government Representative, So I Wore It Myself"

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Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hwang Hee is holding a press conference on the 1st anniversary of his inauguration at the Government Seoul Office briefing room on the 22nd. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Hwang Hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, recently addressed the controversy over China’s Hanbok appropriation at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, stating, "There was no reason to protest as a government representative," and added, "I personally prepared and wore Hanbok to represent the national sentiment and attended the event."

At a press conference held on the morning of the 22nd at the Seoul Government Complex marking his first anniversary in office, Minister Hwang said, "I thought deeply about how to ease the public’s outrage, and I believed that entering the event wearing Hanbok was the best course of action."

On the 4th, China sparked the Hanbok appropriation controversy by featuring a Joseonjok girl wearing Hanbok in a minority culture introduction program during the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony. Earlier, in the Winter Olympics preparation video, China introduced Joseonjok wearing Hanbok as a Chinese ethnic minority, which led to public opinion that China was attempting to appropriate Hanbok following kimchi, spreading anti-China sentiment.

Minister Hwang said, "After hearing about the opening ceremony content in advance and much deliberation, I personally brought Hanbok," adding, "The government representative who attended wearing traditional clothing was only from the Republic of Korea."

When questioned whether the government’s response to China was lukewarm compared to the immediate summoning of the Japanese ambassador’s charg? d’affaires over Japan’s official website marking Dokdo as Japanese territory during the Tokyo Summer Olympics, Minister Hwang explained that the situations were different.

He said, "In Japan’s case, since the Japanese government claimed Dokdo as Japanese territory, our government actively voiced its opinion," and emphasized, "The Chinese government has officially recognized Hanbok as Korean, so it was ambiguous for the government to protest."

Hwang Hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attended the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics held at the National Stadium in Beijing, China, on the afternoon of the 4th, wearing a hanbok. Photo by Yonhap News

He added, "Since there have been long-standing emotional disputes between the two countries over kimchi, Hanbok, and so on, we couldn’t just do nothing, so I prepared and wore Hanbok in advance."

Minister Hwang also revealed, "I proposed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to promote a cultural Olympics that expands the concept beyond sports to the cultural field."

He said, "I proposed the cultural Olympics to IOC President Thomas Bach, whom I met at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and received a positive response," adding, "The cultural field maximizes the Olympic spirit, and President Bach sympathized with the fact that the IOC is expanding its activities within the UN and that culture has become an important social value worldwide through the pandemic, connecting the world as a chain."

He continued, "We can design a system where both competitive and non-competitive fields allow not only participants but also spectators to vote, and there are over 100 items," explaining, "We will cooperate with former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and visible results are expected by March this year."

Finally, Minister Hwang expressed his intention to strengthen the Hanbok globalization project in light of the recent Hanbok appropriation controversy. He said, "To revitalize Hanbok, I have worn Hanbok at Cabinet meetings and am planning various programs such as developing Hanbok school uniforms and Hanbok workwear for everyday life," adding, "We will continue to prepare various programs and budgets for overseas promotion of Hanbok, kimchi, Korean language, and more to widely publicize them."

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