Jeonju City Promotes Creation of Standard Portrait of King Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje

‘Academic Seminar on the Creation of the Standard Portrait of King Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje’ Held

[Jeonju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Han-ho] Jeonju City announced on the 17th that it will begin producing a standard portrait of King Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje, a key figure of the Later Three Kingdoms period who blossomed a brilliant culture.

On the 17th, Jeonju City held an academic seminar for the production of the standard portrait of King Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje at the Jeonju History Museum, attended by Jeonju Mayor Kim Seung-su, Jeonju City Council Chairman Kim Nam-gyu, and experts in history and traditional culture.

As a preliminary procedure for producing the standard portrait of King Gyeon Hwon, who founded Later Baekje, the seminar discussed the necessity, procedures, and verification of the portrait production.

At the event, Professor Park Hyun-sook of Korea University’s Department of History Education, a member of the Portrait and Statue Deliberation Committee of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, gave a keynote presentation on past cases of standard portrait production, related procedures, and future production directions.

Following this, Professor Lee Do-hak of the Department of Convergence Archaeology at the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage verified King Gyeon Hwon’s appearance, the founding of Later Baekje, and the content of state governance based on various sources such as literary records, folklore, and later evaluations.

Based on this, Professor Lee proposed, “The standard portrait should depict King Gyeon Hwon at the age of 60, which was the peak of Later Baekje.”

Jeonju City plans to form an advisory committee related to the production of the standard portrait in collaboration with the Later Baekje Society, the local government council of the Later Baekje cultural zone, and the Later Baekje Promotion Association and Later Baekje Citizens’ Solidarity.

Thereafter, centered on the advisory committee, the city will produce the standard portrait of King Gyeon Hwon through a meticulous verification process and simultaneously proceed with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s review of the portrait production.

Prior to this, in November last year, seven local governments in the Later Baekje cultural zone (Jeonju, Mungyeong, Nonsan, Sangju, Wanju, Jinan, Jangsu) jointly launched a council in Jeonju, the royal capital of Later Baekje, and have been carrying out various projects to restore the forgotten history and culture of Later Baekje.

In particular, as awareness of Later Baekje has recently been reexamined and local communities’ demands for the production of King Gyeon Hwon’s standard portrait have continued, this academic seminar was held as a procedure for research on King Gyeon Hwon’s appearance and the production of the standard portrait.

Jeonju Mayor Kim Seung-su emphasized, “The history and culture of Later Baekje are not simply the history and culture of Jeonju alone but one of the most brilliant and great histories and cultures of the Republic of Korea. Based on in-depth discussions and research on King Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje, Jeonju City will create a turning point for the promotion projects pursued together with citizens and take the lead in changing perceptions of King Gyeon Hwon and the history of Later Baekje.”

Meanwhile, in Jeonju, the royal capital of Later Baekje, memorial projects for King Gyeon Hwon are underway, and in Mungyeong City and Sangju City (the birthplace of King Gyeon Hwon), Gyeonhwon Shrine and Sungwijeon have been established, where annual rites and memorial services for King Gyeon Hwon are held.

Jeonju=Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Han-ho stonepeak@asiae.co.kr

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