On October 12 (Wed), Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister PARK Bo Gyoon, MCST) attended the opening ceremony of the "50th International Cervantino Festival" held in Guanajuato, Mexico as a Guest of Honor. During his visit, the Minister said, “We are celebrating the 50th Cervantino Festival. It is a great honor to participate as a Guest of Honor in this special year. We have prepared diverse venues to show K-pop, classical music, traditional dance, modern dance, BTS performances in IT and immersive technology, media art, and movies. Based on the close cooperation and vibrant exchanges between the two nations, we hope the two nations will lead the times together in the future.”

Hosting an event featuring the harmony between the past and the future, tradition and modernity, East and West

"International Cervantino Festival", the largest cultural arts festival in Latin America, in Guanajuato, Mexico started from October 12 (Wed) and runs until October 30 (Sun). The MCST collaborates with the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, the Korean Cultural Center in Mexico, the Korea Creative Content Agency, the Korea Craft & Design Foundation, and the National Intangible Heritage Center to perform vocal music, fusion traditional music, contemporary dance, and K-pop. Korea's contemporary art and immersive content exhibitions will showcase a variety of host country's events that highlight the harmony between the past and the future, tradition and modernity, and East and West. Artists from more than 30 countries, including Germany, Canada, and Japan, will also participate in this festival.

In particular, this Guest of Honor event starts with the first "Korea Season". The "Korea Season", promoted for the first time this year, is a project to intensively introducing Korean culture for one year together with a country which has a large cultural impact within the region. Korea and Mexico, marking the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year, started this cultural journey together. Starting with the "Concert to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Mexico" held at the Metropolitan Theater in Mexico City in May, the Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration team visited Mexico in July. In addition, there are projects that deepen cultural exchanges between the two countries, such as Korean and Mexican artists to continuously co-operate through their art work, and jointly progress on projects by dispatching experts in the field of international culture.

Discuss cultural exchange with key figures request support for hosting the

 "2030 Busan World Expo"

Minister PARK discussed cultural exchanges between Korea and Mexico with key figures attending the opening ceremony at the Juarez Theater. Luis Felipe Guerrero Agrippino, President of the University of Guanajuato, said, “I am very happy that Korea, an IT powerhouse, added a modern and technological aspect to the 50th Cervantino Festival.” Minister PARK also met Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, the Mexican Minister of Culture, who had visited Korea in May, and said, “I hope this festival will continue to deepen understanding between the two countries through culture.” Also, the Minister added that Mexico to support and promote  the 2030 World Expo to be held in Busan. 

The Minister PARK attended the opening ceremony of "Casa de Corea" on October 13 (Thur), which will become Korea's home as the central space for the Guest of Honors events during the festival. Also, he paid visit to the various program sites, including an exhibition of realistic content.