By Yoo Yeon Gyeong
Video = Netflix's official YouTube channel

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on May 19 announced that five national museums in Seoul are offering "K-Culture Special Programs" to coincide with the March 21 concert of K-pop juggernaut BTS.

The boy band will hold "BTS Comeback Live: Arirang" from 8 p.m. at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. The hour-long performance is expected to attract an estimated 260,000 people including 22,000 seated in the main area.

For this occasion, the National Museum of Korea, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), National Folk Museum of Korea (NFM), National Museum of Korean Contemporary History and National Library of Korea from March 20 offer events like exhibitions, interactive programs, concerts and workshops reflecting each facility's unique traits.

The National Museum of Korea's content is on the theme "Our Cultural Heritage with BTS." From March 21, it will release videos of exhibition docents explaining in English artifacts of interest to the group's members like the statue Pensive Bodhisattva and moon jars.

The MMCA through April 19 runs the English-language program "MMCA: Meet the K-Art" for foreign visitors. The museum's Seoul branch offers BTS music through "BTS Sound Cube," a massive structure measuring 384 cubic meters at the outdoor courtyard.

The cube applies media projections using a technique of projecting video light on objects and spaces to create changing visual effects.

The NFM through April 30 runs "K-Folk Culture with BTS" featuring explanations of artifacts that BTS members are interested in. The K-Playground at the outdoor yard allows visitors to play traditional games such as tuho (pitch pot), spinning tops and jegichagi (kicking a shuttlecock) featured in the YouTube video content "Run BTS."

Through May 31, the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History displays a time capsule donated by BTS and related videos. From next month through June, it will host the children's education program "Arirang of Rock" to connect the centennial anniversary of the release of the film "Arirang" (1926) by director Na Woon-gyu to BTS' "Arirang" concert this year.

"Arirang of Rock" highlights the folk song "Arirang" as pop culture content in modern and contemporary history.

The library through April 12 will host the exhibition "Books That Inspired BTS Music" featuring literary works, research materials and works such as "Until Peonies Bloom" by poet Kim Yeong-Nang and "The Boy" by poet Yoon Dong-ju.

dusrud21@korea.kr