New culture minister to promote national branding
Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
By Kwon Mee-yoo
New Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Kim Jong-deok underlined cultural enrichment and national branding as his primary tasks.
"I will make the people feel the cultural enrichment in their lives, not ending up in mere gesture. I am also interested in elevating Korea's national brand by systematically managing our national image overseas," said the new minister Wednesday, at his first press conference since he took office on Aug. 21.
Kim is a design specialist and an expert in public relations and emerged as a dark horse candidate as culture minister in early August, without any background in politics.
Kim has an extensive experience in the cultural field ― he worked for an advertising agency, produced the animated film "Wonderful Days" and established Borazone, a venture company specialized in digital contents.
He is a visual design professor at Hongik University and dean of Hongik Graduate School of Advertising and Public Relations. He was also served as the president of the Korean Society of Design Science in 2010 and 2011.
As Kim has strong public relations experience, the Park Geun-hye administration expects him to boost cultural prosperity.
"As I said at the hearing and told government employees, 'Listening carefully' is the key. The ministry should hear what the public says as they are the beneficiaries of our policy," Kim said.
He also showed interest in sustainable development of "hallyu," or the Korean wave. "Current hallyu is led by singers and television contents and I see the future limited if we rely on them. The next stage of hallyu should be bidirectional content exchanges," Kim said.
Kim climbed on the bandwagon of deregulation, suggesting mitigating regulations on the game industry.
"I think the government should minimize the control over the game industry. The social responsibility regarding overindulgence lies with the industry and family as well as the government," the minister said. "Large game companies should take the social responsibility seriously, instead of just paying taxes.”