MCST gives special performance awards to key figures behind the ‘Lumière Partnership’ and ‘NMK Costume Play’

[The Financial News] Forty employees who led cooperation between the South Korean and French film and audiovisual industries and the nationwide expansion of ‘NMK Costume Play’ will receive special performance awards from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 21st, 11 achievements have been selected for the fifth round of special performance awards, with a total of 71 million won to be awarded. A total of 51 million won will go to 26 employees in the K-culture expansion category, and 20 million won to 14 employees in the core projects and institutional improvement category. This is the fifth round of awards, following those in March, April, June and September.
Twelve employees, including section chiefs Kim Ji-hee and Kim Hye-jin, planned and organized the international film and audiovisual summit, the ‘Lumière Summit,’ and helped launch the ‘Lumière Partnership.’ Under the partnership, South Korea and France will each invest 500 million euros in their respective domestic film and audiovisual industries over the next five years, for a combined total of approximately 1.6 trillion won. The summit drew 274 participants from 58 countries.
Eight employees, including National Museum of Korea section chief Kim Jae-hwan, expanded ‘NMK Costume Play’ into a nationwide event, with main rounds held in four regions—Jeonju, Daegu, Gongju and Chuncheon—followed by a final. A total of 643 people in 275 teams took part, and around 36,000 visitors attended.
The event is a program that reinterprets cultural heritage through makeup, costumes and performances. The number of participating teams rose from 83 last year to 275 this year, more than tripling the previous year’s total.
Employees of the Korean Wave Support and Cooperation Division, which held an interministerial K-Expo in Mexico, and the International Cultural Policy Division, which planned the ‘Young K-Culture Global Frontier’ project, will also receive awards.
In the institutional improvement category, employees of the Sports Promotion Division were selected for gradually increasing central government funding for the construction of National Sports Centers from 3 billion to 5 billion won per center. They also developed a ‘lightweight National Sports Center’ model that includes essential facilities such as a swimming pool while keeping the total project cost at 15 billion won or less.
Employees of the Publishing, Printing and Reading Promotion Division were also included for pursuing improvements to the contracting system and establishing a verification process for regional bookstores to expand their opportunities to supply goods to public institutions.
The launch of the ‘Cultural Technology Alliance,’ the announcement of ‘Sports Policy Vision 2030’ and support for the athletes’ delegation at the Asian Games in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya are also among the award-winning achievements. Kim Na-hyeon, an administrative officer at the National Hangeul Museum, will receive an award for developing an automated generator for cultural heritage registration statements using artificial intelligence (AI), as will Park Ui-woo, an administrative officer at the Korea Policy Broadcasting Service, for introducing AI anchors to policy broadcasts.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young said, “I am grateful for the passion and dedication of the employees who have strengthened K-culture’s global competitiveness and enriched people’s lives through culture.”
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