The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) of the Republic of Korea participated in the ResiliArt Debate organized by UNESCO on 21 October. Park Yang-woo, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, discussed the value of culture and arts and resilience amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and supported the publication of Toolkit “Culture in Crisis: Policy guide for a resilient creative sector”. 2020 marks the 15th anniversary of the Convention on Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expressions. To celebrate the anniversary, the Republic of Korea and UNESCO jointly organized the ResiliArt debate.

Minister Park is the Chair for the 14th Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) of the 2005 Convention. In his opening speech for the ResiliArt Debate, he highly appreciated the role of UNESCO in setting international standards for protection and promotion of culture and arts, providing policy consultation, and leading the international cooperation efforts. He also highlighted that the Korean Government is committed to increasing the status of artists, protecting the freedom of expression, and promoting the cultural diversity in aligment with UNESCO’s mandates.

Furthermore, Minister Park mentioned the growing significance of culture and arts in rebuilding the society against the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. He proposed creating a cultural safety net to heal people with culture and arts, building a digital environment for creation of online culture and arts contents, and establishing a sustainable social community as ways forward for the international community.

UNESCO compiled and published the Toolkit “Culture in Crisis: Policy guide for a resilient creative sector” at the debate. The Toolkit will be officially launched in Korean at the 14th IGC that will be convened next February.

The Toolkit presents policy measures implemented around the world to cope with the pandemic, such as the project to dispatch arts professionals to schools in New Zealand, and budget increase to strengthen disinfection measures at cultural facilities in Japan. The artists employment insurance scheme that supports artists to continue their creative works in a stable environment has been introduced as a case study of Korea.

The Republic of Korea became a state member to the 2005 Convention in 2007, and completed the ratification process at the National Assembly in 2010. In order to implement the Convention, a law on protection and promotion of cultural diversity was legislated in 2014. Based on this law, various projects have been launched to facilitate communication between different cultures in the local community. In addition, the Korean Government has been supporting protection and promotion of cultures and growth of cultural industries in developing countries through the Korea Funds-in-Trust for the Development of Creative Industries with UNESCO since 2007.

Minister Park stated that MCST will continue to work towards protection and promotion of cultural diversity, as well as reinforcement of the social role of culture in the new normal. He mentioned that the Republic of Korea will lead the global efforts in overcoming the global crisis as the Chair country of the IGC with UNESCO.

The ResiliArt Debate including Minister Park’s Opening Speech and English Toolkit are available on the UNESCO website for the 2005 Convention (https://en.unesco.org/creativity/).