The culture ministries of both Korea and the U.K. discussed plans to deepen the strategic partnerships between the two countries at the third Korea-U.K. Creative Industries Forum on the campus of the Korea National University of Arts (K-Arts) in Seoul, Tuesday.

"The two countries will expand cooperation on exchanging creative talents, developing startups of cultural content and joint projects in third countries," said First Vice Culture Minister Song Soo-keun, who is currently the acting minister of culture, sports and tourism.

"I hope this forum will contribute to expanding common markets for both countries."

Korea's culture ministry and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in the U.K. signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2013 to launch the forum.

The first event was held in 2014 in Seoul and the second in 2016 in London.

Following the second forum, the two countries have been working on a joint project to develop TV program formats and electronic publishing.

Organized by the two culture ministries and the Department of International Trade in the U.K., this year's forum aimed to contribute to vitalization of creative industries of both countries by strengthening substantial cooperation in music, sports, technology and creative content.

Before the forum began, K-Arts President Kim Bong-ryol held a meeting with DCMS Secretary Karen Bradley and discussed ways to open up wider exchanges among art schools from both countries.

According to K-Arts, the discussion included launching invitational workshops for professors of art schools and promoting student exchanges.

"I believe artistic exchanges between arts colleges of the two countries could be helpful to the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution," Kim said.

K-Arts was established by the culture ministry in 1992 with the aim of cultivating world-class artists.

The British delegation toured around K-Arts at the end of the forum.

Source: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/03/181_224506.html
 

Further analysis and implication for UK institutions

2017/18 is the year for cultural exchange for UK and Korea,  and this will be the biggest ever celebration of relationships in arts, creative industries and culture in Korea.

UK/Korea 2017/18 will reach around 1.5 million people across Korea and engage millions of people digitally. The slogan of UK/Korea 2017-18 is “Creative Futures” and British Council will present ways to forge futures for both emerging artists and new audiences in the arts and creative industries of the UK and Korea.

Students and parents will have opportunities to watch the best of UK dance, theatre, film, visual arts, literature, music, architecture, design, fashion and creative economy from February 2017 to March 2018 in multiple cities including Seoul, Busan, Cheongju, Jeonju and Gangneung as these will be advertised through the biggest online platform called 'Naver' and these will attract many people's attention.

It will also provide a platform to further boost the promotion of UK business, education and science in Korea, and create a platform for long term and sustainable partnerships through market development, new networks and increased mobility.