Exploring cooperation through cultural IP... Korea-ASEAN Cultural Innovation Forum to be held on the 7th

[Financial News] South Korea and ASEAN will discuss ways to protect creators’ rights and make use of cultural intellectual property (IP) in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). The cultural innovation forum in the Philippines will also serve as the occasion for the launch of a working-level consultative body involving cultural institutions from across the region.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 5th, the ministry and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) will hold the 2026 Korea-ASEAN Cultural Innovation Forum on the 7th at the Ayala Museum in Manila, Philippines. The forum was launched in 2020 following the 2019 ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit, and this year marks its seventh edition. A total of 53 people, including government and public institution officials and representatives from industry and academia, from South Korea and ASEAN’s 11 member states will attend.
While last year’s forum, held at National Gallery Singapore, addressed “Inclusive AI for Cultural Sustainability,” this year’s event will focus on the industrial use of cultural IP and cooperation among countries.
Chang-seop Kim, deputy head of the Maple Division at NEXON Korea Corporation, will share his experience in creative work and IP expansion in the keynote address. Four sessions will follow: policy, industry, cooperation and youth. In the policy session, Jonathan Tan, director of the Culture and Information Division at the ASEAN Secretariat, will chair as experts from across the region examine frameworks and challenges related to cultural IP. In the industry session, representatives from the content industries in Vietnam, Singapore and Myanmar will share examples of how they developed ideas into businesses.
Representatives of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste’s traditional weaving association and others will take part in the cooperation session to discuss ways to foster exchanges by drawing on local cultural resources. The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste joined ASEAN as its 11th member in October last year.
In the youth session, Filipino actor and singer Elijah Canlas will share experiences from his creative work. The Korea-ASEAN Youth Team, made up of young people from South Korea, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Cambodia, will present IP-use proposals and ideas for cooperation among countries that it has developed with expert advice.
The accompanying exhibition, “Gathering Point,” will run from the 7th to the 13th at the Ayala Museum. Eight artists, including Mark Justiniani from the Philippines, Ari Bayuaji from Indonesia and Kim Joon from South Korea, will use their works to show how gathering everyday materials and experiences can lead to creative work.
Thirteen cultural and creative institutions from South Korea and ASEAN will take part in the first meeting of the working-level consultative body, to be held on the 8th at the New World Makati Hotel. They will share their activities and needs for cooperation, and, building on discussions at the forum, review next year’s cooperation agenda and ways to foster links among institutions. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to develop the body into an ongoing channel for exchanges among Korea-ASEAN cultural institutions.

[email protected] Jang In-seo Reporter