“Preserving one's cultural assets with care is equal to love of one's country." President Park Geun-hye went to see the "Treasures of Kansong" exhibit on June 25, the last Wednesday of the month, a day traditionally designated as being "Culture Day."

The "Treasures of Kansong, Preserving National Identity Through Culture" exhibition is being held at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul. Among other display items, President Park admired the "Hunminjeongeum," the original manuscript which lays down the rules and structure for Hangeul. She also enjoyed seeing the "Celadon Prunus Vase with Inlaid Cloud and Crane Design," and the "Album of Genre Paintings" by Joseon-era artist Shin Yun-bok (1758-?). The chief administrative officer at the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation, Chun In-keon, provided the president with brief explanations of the items on display.


"It occurred to me that taking great care to preserve the nation's cultural assets throughout time shows love for one's country," said President Park. "Today is the 64th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. The theme of the 'Treasures of Kansong' exhibit, that we can preserve our national identity through culture, resonates even stronger."

"Chun Hyung-pil, who went by the penname 'Kansong,' devoted his life to saving the Korean soul and made many efforts to preserve the country's cultural assets. Something touches me deep inside when I think that without such efforts, these items might not exist as they do now," the president said.

Chun Hyung-pil (1906-1962), or "Kansong," founded the Bohwagak museum in 1938, the first private Korean museum, which has now become the Kansong Art Museum. He once said that, "The artifacts and historical relics of a country are its legacy, embedded in the citizens' sense of identity and spiritual values." Chun worked hard to prevent many of Korea's cultural assets from leaving the country during Japanese colonial times.



In a meeting with other museum guests, President Park spoke of the "Hunminjeongeum," a text which is inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. "I heard a tale about the 'Hunminjeongeum.' It was found in Andong and in exchange for it a middleman demanded a price equal to the value of a house. Kansong paid ten-times the demanded price, saying that treasures like the 'Hunminjeongeum' need to be valued properly. When the Korean War started, Kansong fled with the 'Hunminjeongeum' hidden underneath his clothes, near his heart, and hid it under a pillow while he slept. He protected it as if it were his life," the president said.



"I was moved very much by Kansong's actions, a man who tried to preserve the national identity by conserving our culture," said Han Yeong-hi, a kindergarten director, who visited the exhibit the same day. "It is our task to pass all of this on to the children and to the next generation, so that they will inherit and, in the future, further develop their spirit."

The last Wednesday of every month has been designated as "Culture Day," encouraging people to enjoy museums and the arts as part of their daily lives. Most museums, galleries, movie theaters and performance halls provide discounts on "Culture Day."

By Jeon Han, Limb Jae-un
Korea.net staff writers
hanjeon@korea.kr