Editorial cartoon exhibition opens

By Kwon Mee-yoo

An editorial cartoon exhibition is taking place in Seoul to awaken interest in environmental issues ahead of the G20 Seoul Summit scheduled to begin on Thursday.

The G20 Seoul Summit Editorial Cartoon Exhibition “Save The Earth” is being held at two venues simultaneously. The Coex exhibition on the first floor of Coex Artium, from Nov. 7 to 14, is mostly for the participants of the G20 summit, while the other displayed in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Gwanghwamun, from Nov. 9 to 14, is for the general public.

Kwon Byong-hyon, the president of Future Forest and a former Korean ambassador to China, said the exhibition aims to urge the G20 leaders to pay attention to environmental issues as well as economic problems.

“Through the exhibition, we call for action to ‘Save The Earth’ by the G20 leaders including the adoption of ‘sustainable management of the Earth’ as an item for the summit’s agenda, as requested by the Future Forest to the presidential preparation committee earlier this year and we will continue to work for this,” he said, after the opening ceremony of the event at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.

Top editorial cartoonists and young artists from some 20 countries from around the world, including three Koreans, all contributed to the exhibition. Among the contributors are Yi Won-soo, the New York Times syndicated cartoonist, Nam Myung-lae, who recently held an exhibition on environmental issues in France, and Oh Young-sik, winner of the International Festival of Graphic Humor. They submitted editorial cartoons on important environmental issues such as climate change and desertification.

The exhibition is hosted by the non-governmental organization Future Forest, The Korea Foundation and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The Korea Times and sister company Hankook Ilbo organized the event. Miss Korea 2010 Chong So-ra has been appointed as the honorary ambassador of the exhibition.