광복절 74주년, 5개국 40명의 동포 예술인 한자리에 모인다... 제1회 세계한민족공연예술축제 개최
Dozens of overseas Korean performing artists have gathered in Seoul to commemorate this year's Liberation Day.
Spreading Korea's traditional performances in different parts of the world,... these Korean artists from diverse countries can now perform in their ancestral homeland.
Kan Hyeong-woo has the story.
These Korean artists are from the five different countries their parents immigrated to -- the U.S., China, Japan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
There are 40 of them, and they've come to their ancestral homeland to commemorate Liberation Day.
Organized by Seoul's JeongHyo Gugak Cultural Foundation,… the first World Overseas Korean Performing Arts Festival is taking place on Thursday and Friday.
"This is great and it means a lot. We need to keep trying to let overseas Koreans know about our traditional culture. I believe it's an important mission."
Some cultural exchanges between South Korea and Japan have been cut off due to the recent tensions.
But the overseas Korean performing arts festival has invited five teams from Japan to show that cultural exchanges at the civilian-level should continue regardless of external factors.
"When it comes to politics or historical issues,... there are certain problems that need to be solved - which is important. But the arts could have a positive impact on such matters. So cultural exchanges between civilians should go on."
The main ceremony will begin at 2PM on Thursday at the National Gugak Center.
On the next day, there'll be a workshop to help second-generation Korean participants become more familiar with Korea's traditional performing arts.
"The organizers say they hope this opportunity can be the start of a new tradition of bringing overseas Korean performers together to help preserve Korea’s cultural heritage. Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News."
