‘Unlocking the Secrets of East Asian Handmade Paper’ … National Institute of Korean Studies Hosts International Academic Seminar

by Gu Daeseon

Published 22 May.2023 11:39(KST)

Updated 07 Aug.2025 10:15(KST)

Hosted by Gyeongbuk Province and organized by the Korea Studies Advancement Center (Director Jeong Jongseop), an international academic seminar will be held on the 23rd at the Korea Studies Advancement Center, which houses over 620,000 pieces of recorded heritage, under the theme "Unlocking the Secrets of East Asian Handmade Paper."

The records of the April 19 Revolution and the Donghak Peasant Revolution were officially inscribed as UNESCO Memory of the World on May 18 (local time). With this, the number of Korea's registered world documentary heritages has reached 18, moving Korea from 4th to 3rd place globally.

The process of making traditional Korean paper, Hanji.

Korea's emergence as a global "nation of records" was made possible by the diligent recording spirit of our ancestors, along with paper as the foundation. Paper, one of humanity's three great inventions, has been the most essential medium connecting past history and culture to the present.

The driving force behind Korea becoming a world-class cultural powerhouse today is precisely the excellent Hanji paper.

Gyeongbuk Province, including Andong, Mungyeong, and Cheongsong, is the mecca of Hanji, where paper is still produced using traditional methods. This academic seminar will compare traditional papermaking techniques across Asia and explore directions for promoting Korea's traditional Hanji policies.

Asao Shimura (朝夫志村), a renowned Japanese paper researcher, will present on the traditions and succession of paper pulp technologies in Korea, China, Japan, and other Asian regions. Professor Han Yoonhee of Myongji University will present scientific analyses of the differences in handmade paper pulp techniques used in Korean and Japanese historical documents.

Park Hugeun, Director of the Gyeongbuk Talent Development Institute, will offer suggestions on traditional Hanji promotion policies based on survey results conducted among policy suppliers and policy consumers.