'Squid Game' Tug-of-War Charm to Be Introduced to the World

Overseas Culture Promotion Institute Hosts UNESCO Cultural Heritage Tour
For Foreign Residents in Korea... Starting with Dangjin Gijisi Tug-of-War

The Overseas Culture and Information Service announced on the 21st that it will conduct eight UNESCO cultural heritage exploration sessions for about 270 foreigners residing in Korea until November. This project was created to enhance understanding and interest in Korea's traditional cultural heritage and marks its 10th anniversary this year.

Korea, along with Japan, is the country with the second highest number of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage items in the world. To commemorate this, the Overseas Culture and Information Service has prepared specialized programs featuring experiences of intangible cultural heritage such as tug-of-war, tightrope walking, pansori, taekkyeon, haenyeo (female divers), mask dance, ssireum (Korean wrestling), and kimjang (kimchi-making).

The first exploration is a tug-of-war experience featured in the globally popular Netflix drama "Squid Game." Thirty-five foreign influencers (short-form video creators) residing in Korea, including Filipino actor Christian Lagahit who appeared as "Number 276" in "Squid Game," will visit the Gijisi Tug-of-War Festival in Dangjin on the 22nd and 23rd.

The Gijisi Tug-of-War has been an event since the Joseon Dynasty where residents of Gijisi and nearby villages held rituals and pulled the rope to overcome disasters and pray for national peace and a bountiful harvest. On the first day, participants observe the process of making a rope about 200 meters long from 30,000 bundles of rice straw. On the second day, they watch the process of combining two giant ropes weighing 40 tons into one and participate in the tug-of-war competition. All experiences and explorations will be produced as entertainment-style videos and released on the Korea.net YouTube channel.

Starting with this, the Overseas Culture and Information Service will sequentially conduct the following: Suwon tightrope walking experience (U.S. Forces Korea) in the next month; Jeonju pansori experience and Iksan and Buyeo Baekje Historic Areas exploration (foreign diplomatic corps in Korea) in June; Chungju taekkyeon experience (Defense University) in July; Jeju haenyeo experience (honorary reporters, K-influencers, resident foreign journalists) in August; Andong mask dance experience and Gyeongju Historic Areas exploration (foreign diplomatic corps in Korea) in September; Changwon ssireum experience and Busan One Asia Festival exploration (graduate students and resident workers) in October; and Seoul kimjang experience (international organizations and international school staff) in November.

Kim Jang-ho, head of the Overseas Culture and Information Service, said, "We hope that foreigners living both domestically and abroad can widely enjoy the fun and value of exploring Korea’s world-class cultural heritage."