Pierre Sang Boyer

Kang Sue-jin

Beyhan Murphy

Paul Bassett

By Kim Jae-heun

The Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), led by Choi Jung-wha, will hold its 7th Culture Communication Forum to discuss the sources of power in communicating culture at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Yongsan, Seoul, on Sept. 6.

CICI invites 20 cultural representatives from different countries to share similarities between Korean culture and theirs as well as to discuss impressive Korean traditions that the foreigners have experienced.

Participating international culture leaders include CEO and the Director of Australian Centre for the Moving Image Katrina Sedgwick, 2003 World Barista Championship winner Paul Bassett, French chef Pierre Sang Boyer, Indian journalist Vir Sanghvi and Korean ballerina Kang Sue-jin.

During their three-day stay in Korea, the cultural leaders will visit Changdukgung Palace in Jongno, central Seoul, and experience Korean traditional houses while wearing Korean traditional clothes "hanbok." The international group will also visit Hyundai Card Factory to witness the design lab there and listen to a talk about the brand identity and their philosophy and see the night view at N Seoul Tower in the evening.

On the last day, CICI will hold a cultural exchange forum based on the two-day experience with 20 cultural representatives, where some 300 cultural leaders and opinion leaders from diverse sectors will attend. The participants include Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Yoo Il-ho, the U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Busan International Film Festival and the Director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art Bartomeu Mari.

New Zealand's representative and Maori tribe musician Tama Waipara will perform traditional folk song "Pokarekare Ana" on the day.

CCF is an annual program that aims to invite leading cultural figures from G20 countries to Korea to experience traditional and modern culture here and promote them abroad. Last year, the forum was held under the theme of "Cultural Combustion in the Smart Age" with prominent cultural leaders from around the world.

CICI is a non-profit organization that promotes the culture and images of Korea to foreign countries. It offers cultural experiences to foreign envoys in the country by holding lectures and visiting historical heritage sites.

The former CCF participants include the head of Missoni Group Vittorio Missoni, French intellectual Guy Sorman, chief of the Australian Network media outlet Bruce Dover and the Director of the Rodin Museum in Paris Catherine Chevillot.