Choe Kwang-shik, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA), explains diverse events to mark the 50th anniversary of its foundation this year at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap

By Chung Ah-young

Fifty years since the foundation of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) will be celebrated by holding diverse events.

“We’ve been preparing various anniversary projects to reach out to the public more closely and to meet the need for a change in the cultural preservation paradigm in accordance with the changes of the times,” Choe Kwang-shik, head of CHA, said Monday.

The special events to mark the anniversary include academic seminars, the digitalization of cultural heritages, international exchanges to retrieve cultural properties scattered overseas, commemorative exhibitions and performances.

During the “Cultural Heritage Week” from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, the administration will hold academic seminars and provide mobile information to further promote the cultural heritage contents, traditional fashion shows and photo exhibitions.

The government will produce the digital content of historical treasures such as Hunminjeongeum, Seokuram Grotto and Bulguk Temple to distribute to 11,000 schools nationwide this month.

The special photo exhibition about Changdeok Palace, which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage, will be shown at the National Palace Museum of Korea from June 28 to Aug. 28.

In November, to celebrate the 1,000th year of the First Edition of the Tripitaka Koreana (Chojo Daejanggyeong), on which work was begun in 1011, during the second year of the reign of King Hyeonjong, and completed in 1087, the government will organize memorial events around the nation.