National Gugak Center Publishes '70-Year History of Its Opening'

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The National Gugak Center announced on the 13th that it has published the "70-Year History of the National Gugak Center" to document the activities of the National Gugak Center on its 70th anniversary and to lay the foundation for future development.

Since July last year, the National Gugak Center, led by the Gugak Research Office, held several internal and external meetings to determine the nature and scope of the publication. While recording the changes and trends over the 70 years since its opening, it strengthened the outlook for the future. Although it covers the entire 70 years, it particularly focuses on the 20 years following the publication of the "50-Year History of the National Gugak Center" in 2001. More than 70 people, including 31 internal and external writers, discussion participants, and data researchers, participated in the production.

The first part, which looks back on the 70-year history, organizes the Center’s projects into 12 themes such as a timeline and major projects over 70 years, organization and facilities, academics, performances, stage, education, and promotion. The histories of regional Gugak Centers (Namwon, Jindo, Busan) are also included in the form of brief historical summaries.

The second part, which envisions the future, includes expert manuscripts on seven topics such as legislation related to Gugak promotion policies, Gugak copyrights, and Gugak education, as well as transcripts of discussions on six topics including the future of Gugak transmission, Gugak as a resource for the new Korean Wave, and future theaters, to propose tasks and policy measures for the National Gugak Center and the Gugak community in response to domestic and international environmental changes.

Seo Inhwa, head of the Gugak Research Office, said, “This 70-year history is significant in that it reviews the mission and vision of the National Gugak Center in the post-COVID era, summarizes past projects, and addresses issues related to the Gugak community directly or indirectly connected to the Center from various perspectives to objectively envision the future as much as possible.”

The "70-Year History of the National Gugak Center" will be available for free download on the National Gugak Center website starting from the 19th.