“Gwanghwamun Project” Unveils to the Public from December 17

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister HWANG Hee, MCST) and the Korean Creative Content Agency (President JO Hyun Rae, KOCCA) open “Age of Light” (Gwanghwa Sidae) to the public on December 17. MCST and KOCCA planned the project to raise awareness on the immersive contents with using the state-of-the-art technology and promote the well-developed Korea’s technology and culture.

The Gwanghwamun area[1] in Seoul will be reborn as a large-scale cultural experience space where people will be able to experience Korea’s past, present, and future via the latest technology and as the center of the immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence  (AI), hologram, mixed reality (MR), and 5G-based contents. The past, present, and future of Gwanghwamun are to be realized with eight types of immersive contents using the advanced technologies, starting from ‘Gwanghwa Pungryu’. The series of diverse editions contain a total of eight types of immersive contents combining cultural and tourism contents with the latest technologies.

The eight types of immersive contents are Gwanghwa Pungryu (performance), a real-time performance that connects virtual and real world, Gwanghwa Won (garden), a garden where people to take rest and heal in the center of the city, GwanghwaIn (AI), artificial intelligence implemented as a hologram information-providing contents, Gwanghwa Electric Railway, amusement rides that explore time and space in Gwanghwamun area. GwanghwaSu (forest), a hash tag forest, which changes in real-time when receiving empathy from the citizens. GwanghwaDam (story) is a mission game to find the hidden story of Gwanghwamun, and Gwanghwa Gyeong (hidden story) is finding the hidden history of Gwanghwamun of the past, present, and future. Gwanghwa Byeokhwa (mural) is immersive interactive media art and signage. The two spots for visitors’ experience will be set up at the “National Museum of Korean Contemporary History” and “Metro Museum” where GwanghwaWon and GwanghwaIn are installed.

To contain the spread of the COVID19, MCST and KOCCA will release the eight types of realistic contents in a small scale and sequential order, starting with Gwanghwa Pungryu on December 17. Gwanghwa Won and Gwanghwa In will be shown to the public in January, following Gwanghwa Electric Railway, Gwanghwa Su, Gwangwha Dam, and Gwanghwa Gyeong in the early February and Gwanghwa Byeokhwa in the late February.

As the first series of the edition, Gwanghwa Pungryu will meet the public on December 17 6PM via KOCCA and (www.youtube.com/user/KoreanContent), Mnet K-POP youtube channel. Visitors can also view the performance at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. However, due to the COVID19, only 70 people will be allowed with their vaccine certificate proving that the person is fully vaccinated or negative PCR test result. Only on the marked spots will be allowed for visitors to stand and enjoy the performance. For the performance on December 17, it will be from 6PM to 8PM, starting with online real-time street performance (busking) with SONG So Hee (traditional national music singer), and K-pop stars from 7PM.