The government has designated the last Wednesday of each month as 'Hanbok Day,' encouraging government officials and others to wear traditional Korean attire to work. Public facilities such as museums, art galleries, and overseas cultural centers will introduce traditional attire as uniforms on a trial basis.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the 'First Basic Plan for Traditional Culture Industry Promotion' containing such content at a social relations ministers' meeting held at the government complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 26th. This basic plan is the first plan prepared under Article 5 of the 'Traditional Culture Industry Promotion Act' implemented in September. The basic plan, which sets two main goals: 'Creating an ecosystem for the traditional culture industry through modernization and convergence,' and 'Cultivating traditional culture as the representative brand of K-culture,' presented eight strategic tasks divided into four areas: supply, demand, mediation, and foundation.
In the demand area, the strategic goal was set as 'creating demand by expanding opportunities to enjoy traditional culture.' The intention is for the government to take the lead in improving awareness to promote consumption of traditional culture. To achieve this, the plan is to designate the last Wednesday of each month as 'Hanbok Day,' securing regular occasions for wearing hanbok in government, local governments, and public institutions. Additionally, for national holidays such as Independence Movement Day (March 1), Constitution Day, Liberation Day, National Foundation Day, and Hangeul Day, as well as 57 commemorative days, the 'dress code' will be designated as hanbok to promote the culture of wearing hanbok starting from the public sector. There are also plans to introduce traditional attire uniforms first in sectors with high public interaction such as museum, art gallery, overseas cultural center, and public facilities guides. Moreover, the third week of October will be designated as 'Hanbok Culture Week' to encourage wearing hanbok, and a product contest using traditional Hanji will be held to expand consumption opportunities.
A strategic supply goal of 'strengthening support for the growth of corporations and research and development (R&D) for the industrial growth of traditional culture' was also established. In order to nurture traditional culture corporations focused on traditional artisans, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to support traditional culture youth startup corporations at each growth stage and foster traditional culture leading corporations to discover business models that lead global expansion. Furthermore, there are plans to expand research and development (R&D) and financial support in the traditional culture industry by creating new financial and investment support systems specialized for traditional culture corporations.
To build a robust foundation for the traditional culture business, efforts will also be made in industry surveys and manpower training. There will be initiatives like operating a mentoring program between artisans and youth, introducing youth internships, and establishing new curriculum for traditional culture fusion education. Regular industry surveys will be conducted to understand industry trends, and a quality certification system will be operated to enhance consumer trust in traditional cultural products.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has presented an ambition to step-by-step execute the basic plan by 2029, with the aim of nurturing our traditional culture into a high-value-added Korean Wave industry rather than merely preserving it. Minister Yoo In-chon noted, 'Over the next five years, government departments, local governments, public institutions, and the private sector, including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, are expected to successfully implement this basic plan to nurture traditional culture into a high-value-added Korean Wave industry.'