A show of the traditional Korean wedding ceremony held at the 2012 Gyeongju World Cultural

 Expo last year.(Photos: The Istanbul-Gyeongju World Cultural Expo 2013 Organizing Committee)

A number of reputable leaders of the Korean traditional music, Gukak, will travel to Istanbul to ensure that the Korea-Turkey cultural event will be a great success to let the world know about what the Korean traditional music genre is like with the Turkish city being a crossroad linking Asia and Europe. Won Il, artistic director of the Korean National Traditional Music Orchestra made of all sorts of Korean traditional musical instruments like kayagum and piri, will be there, along with conductor Park Bum-hoon. 

Sec.-Gen Lee Dong-woo of the Istanbul-Gyeongju 

World Cultural Expo 2013 Organizing Committee

 The orchestra will play at a special event on Sept. 1, the day after the expo raises its curtain on Aug. 31 in the historic city of Istanbul. The orchestra’s repertoire includes a traditional Pansori sung by renowned singer Madam Ahn Sook-sun, Samulnori, a traditional Korean music and dance number made famous by Kim Duk-soo and a joint concert by the Korean and Turkish orchestra to play a traditional Turkish tune, “Uskudara,” played with a tradtional Turkish musical instrument, “Baglama,” among other instruments. Pyo Jae-soon, Gen.-Dir. of the Istanbul-Gyeongju World Cultural Expo 2013 Organizing Committee, said those musicians from Korea will ensure that the Istanbul expo will be a great success with traditional Korean songs and music to resonate throughout Turkey and Europe. 

An ancient Korean dance scene from the 2012 Gyeongju World Cultural Expo.

The Cabinet Council meeting took place at Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential mansion, on Aug. 6, presided over by President Park Geun-hye to take up a number of key government policies including the government’s support for the Istanbul-Gyeongju World Cultural Expo 2013 scheduled to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from Aug. 31-Sept. 22.

Minister Yoo Jin-ryong of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) said at the meeting that the Istanbul-Gyeongju World Cultural Expo has grown to be an international event from a regional event initiated and pushed by local autonomous organizations to promote international exchange in order to boost the national brand, and thus requires government support for its further growth as a significant global cultural event. 

Currently, five government ministries including the Ministries of National Defense, Trade, Industry and Energy, and Patriots and Veterans Affairs along with the MCST have been promoting 16 projects that make use of the Gyeongju event, thus synergy should be created through inter-ministerial cooperation.

Minister Yoo asked for all the ministries to do their best to prepare for the events connected to the world cultural expo; from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he asked that they provide safe passage and convenience for Korean travelers heading to Istanbul to attend the Gyeongju World Cultural Expo, while asking the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for increases in air flight numbers to and from Istanbul to cope with the possible increase in travelers.

Vice Sec-Gen. Park Eui-shik of the Istanbul-Gyeongju World Cultural Expo 2013 Organizing Committee said it is encouraging that the Cabinet Council, the highest decision-making body of the government, has even taken up the event as one of its key issues. “With the government’s reemphasized support for the Istanbul event some 20 days away, we will do our best to wrap up the final touches in the preparations to make the Istanbul-Gyeongju event one of the most successful events held outside Korea to make the real value of the Korean culture and Gyeongju known as widely as possible around the world,” Park said.

Vice Sec.-Gen. Park Eui-shik of the Istanbul-Gyeongju

World Cultural Expo 2013 Organizing Committee

The Istanbul-Gyeongju World Cultural Expo 2013 is to kick off from Aug. 31 and close on Sept. 22 for a 23-day run under the theme of roads, meetings, and companionship, and the participation of 40 nations in the eight areas of the expo such as performance, exhibition, films and special events — some 40 programs altogether. Gyeongju City, North Gyeongsang Provincial government, and Istanbul City will host the global event with the cultural ministries of both Korea and Turkey as supporters.

Major events will include one concerning the ties between Korea and Turkey; the introduction of the beauty of Korean culture, and others at the Hall of Korean Culture; a special show displaying the globalization of traditional Korean culture; a traditional fashion show; and the Korean language and Korean studies conferences. There also will be the K-Pop Festival, the week of Korean films showing, the B-Boy performance, and the Korea-Turkey culture symposium, following the opening festival jointly performed by the Korea-Turkish symphony orchestra and featuring the exhibition of Korean and Turkish arts.

Maria Genc, 21, a junior at Istanbul University, who won the final of the 2013 K-Pop Festival held on June 29 in Istanbul, a preliminary event in Turkey participated in by 102 teams, was invited to Korea to watch the preparations for the Istanbul-Gyeongju World Cultural Expo 2013 at the D-30 Preparation Report hosted by the organizing committee of the global event in Turkey on July 26 in Gyeongju. She was named a PR officer for the Istanbul event at the special gathering and said she found the Korean people very enthusiastic about the upcoming event in Istanbul and she will do all she can to let the Turkish people know more about the Istanbul event, Korea, and Gyeongju City’s ancient culture and historic legacy.

Sec.-Gen. Lee Dong-woo said the June 29 event was to report to the residents of Gyeongju how the preparations have been going for the Istanbul event and to ensure them that the preparations will continue up to the last minute in order to make the event a great success with the continued support of the citizens of Gyeongju.

The events and programs to be presented at the Istanbul-Gyeongju World Culture Expo 2013 include some of the ancient Korean legacies led by “Yusin, a Hwarang of Silla,” which is an art performance with an exquisite blend of sport and performing art, directed by the director of Nanta, the long-running non-verbal Korean percussion show. The Korea Traditional Music Orchestra conducted by Park Bum-hoon is also expected to ignite the excitement at the Istanbul event. The orchestra, with all kinds of traditional musical instruments is sure to offer the viewers a chance to appreciate the ancient Korean tunes handed down for hundreds of years. 

There will also be a demonstration of taekwondo, the national sport of Korea, a Korea-Turkey joint fashion show of traditional clothes, a creative performance staged by a top B-boy group, and traditional and modern Korean music and dance performances.

Exhibitions include the Korea Culture Center, which will display the traditional culture of Korea and highlight the combination of the country’s traditional culture with high-tech information-telecommunication technologies.

Also included is the Korea-Turkey Joint Art Exchange Fair of top artists of the two countries that will provide a place for artistic exchanges, as well as a place for understanding and harmony between the cultures and arts of the countries.

There will be a Korean film festival, screening Korea’s top film classics and modern movies, along with a screening of 3D films such as Byeokrucheon, the Legend of the White Horse, and Mud Warrior Chacha, among others.

Special events include a K-pop concert and the European preliminaries for the World K-pop Dance Contest in Istanbul. 

Other events and promotional centers include the Korea-Turkey Cultural Experience Fair to promote better understanding of the countries’ different cultures through hands-on experience of their traditional culture; the Korean Business Promotion Center to promote Korean companies operating in Turkey such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai, SK, and POSCO; and the Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gyeongju City Water Forum Promotion Center to introduce the region and provide tourism information.