The Korean wave or Hallyu has received attentions from many countries as a new model for cooperation between the culture industries and tourism.

In light of this, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jongdeok recently received a favorable response at the first UNWTO/ UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture. At the conference, Minister Kim spoke about Korea’s successful building of a new cooperation model between the arts and tourism. The conference took place in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from February 4 to 6.

At the conference, Minister Kim said, “In Korea’s case, the development of the culture industry, exemplified by Hallyu, paved the way to attracting 14 million international tourists to Korea last year. It also creates a remarkable ripple effect in a variety of sectors, including distribution, cosmetics, home appliances, food products and so on.” He said that the popularity of Korean mass media in many countries has allowed for the creation of many synergies between pop culture and tourism.

The conference was jointly hosted by the United Nation’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and UNESCO for the first time in Cambodia over two days. Attendees at the meeting included UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and ministers and vice ministers from about 40 countries.




Later that day, Minister Kim attended a signing ceremony for the International ST-EP Organization, which promoted the Sustainable Tourism-Eliminating Poverty Foundation (ST-EP Foundation). Six countries -- Cambodia, Etiophia, Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru and Colombia –- expressed their will to officially join the organization.

The ST-EP Foundation, which Korea helped to establish, was built under the umbrella of the UNWTO in 2004 to achieve the U.N.’s goals of developing sustainable tourism resources and eradicating poverty. The foundation has been carrying out various projects, such as tourism development support projects and the “Small Libraries Establishment project.” The International ST-EP Organization will discuss cooperation on the poverty elimination projects of the U.N., including the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The next day, Minister Kim attended a ceremony to mark the opening of a new Small Library at Kessaram Elementary School in Siem Reap. Kim said in his congratulatory remarks that, “Korea will share its development experiences with more countries, and not spare any support in that regard.”






By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Jeon So-hyang, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
arete@korea.kr