Forum discusses culture in digital age

The leading cultural figures of G20 member countries pose before CCF Night 2015 at The Westin Chosun, Wednesday. They are CICI President Choi-Jung-wha, third from left in the front row, Japanese broadcaster Tomoyo Nonaka, Chinese artistic director Wang Jun, Korean jazz vocalist Na Yoon-sun, American musician Rob Moose, President of hospitality consulting firm CS Didier Beltoise and Indian festival director Sanjoy Roy. / Courtesy of CICI

By Kim Jae-heun

The 6th Cultural Communication Forum (CCF) organized by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) held a meeting of leading cultural figures from G20 member countries on the topic "Cultural Combustion in the Smart Age" at The Westin Chosun, Seoul, Wednesday.

CICI led by President Choi Jung-wha invited cultural delegates from 15 countries to experience aspects of Korean traditional culture and share opinions on promoting it, particularly through social networking services (SNS).

The majority of the group agreed that the online media possess great potential and power to spread culture, yet it still lacks in delivering the full experience and emotion that can be gained on the spot.

"Nothing can replace immediate experience," said Jean d'Haussonville, director general of the National Estate of Chambord. "You cannot replace the feeling you experience at a concert with something else. You can talk about the taste of tiramisu on the Internet but it is totally different from actually tasting it."

British cultural policy adviser Alice Sherwood emphasized that people are the most important media. She said "Koreans often interact through SNS. However, they need to let others know they are Korean by talking face to face, which starts the real conversation."

However, Namgoong Yon, a Korean creator and a drummer saw the positive side of SNS. He believes that social media such as Facebook and Twitter is good for the creators because they provide instant feedback.

"Say you searched Chambord Castle on YouTube. You will watch videos with the most views and find the tourist sites that are attractive. The high record of views indicates that people give credit to other viewers' opinions. This data has value to it," said Namgoong.

"According to Google officials and Psy, his music video Gangnam Style became a global megahit because of the London Olympics. First, the London Olympics promoted his song a lot. Also, some media outlets delivered news on Korean fencers and Psy popped up as a related keyword on Google when a person typed Korea. The video was fun and it was re-twitted by many people around the world."

American musician Rob Moose shared his episode on using SNS to finance his six-member rock band. He introduced his music and videos through Twitter and Facebook which earned him several thousand dollars from only a five dollar investment. Moose said that the world does not want to buy music anymore.

About promoting Korean culture, foreign delegates said that Korea needs a world-popular brand name.

"Korea has accomplished amazing cultural diplomacy in a short time. However, when you introduce yourself as a Korean, what can you introduce that anyone in the world can recognize? England has the queen, unique humor and Benedict Cumberbatch. You need to appoint a cultural ambassador," Sherwood said.

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