Cheil Worldwide Digitally Restores Joseon Dynasty Gates, Government Offices, and Royal Court Rituals... Receives Award

Selected as an 'Excellent Cultural Heritage Guardian Company' by the Cultural Heritage Administration
Recognized for Contributions to Cultural Heritage Restoration Projects...Received Commendation

Cheil Worldwide announced on the 27th that it has been selected as an 'Outstanding Cultural Heritage Guardian Company' in recognition of its successful promotion of cultural heritage restoration projects using digital technology.

Cheil Worldwide, together with the Cultural Heritage Administration, Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Woomi Hope Foundation, digitally recreated the 1887 Gyeongbokgung Jinhalye ceremony
[Photo by Cheil Worldwide].

At the recent '2023 National Heritage Social Contribution Conference' hosted by the Cultural Heritage Administration, Cheil Worldwide received the Outstanding Cultural Heritage Guardian Company award, given to companies leading the protection of national heritage, for its digital cultural heritage restoration project 'Heribus Gongjon' carried out through public-private collaboration.

The Heribus Gongjon project is a public-private collaborative cultural heritage restoration initiative that Cheil Worldwide has been promoting for five years since signing an agreement in December 2018 with the Cultural Heritage Administration, Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Woomi Hope Foundation on 'Digital Reproduction of Cultural Heritage and Revitalization of Historical and Cultural Cities.'

As the first achievement of the project, in 2019, the Hanyangdoseong 'Donuimun (Seodaemun)' was digitally restored for the first time in 104 years, allowing people to experience Donuimun through augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies around Jeongdong Intersection, the old site of Donuimun. According to Seoul city statistics, more than 30,000 people annually experience the digitally restored Donuimun.

Following Donuimun, in February of this year, the Joseon Dynasty's weapon manufacturing office 'Gungisi' was digitally restored for the first time in 140 years. This is the first case of digitally restoring a central government office from the Joseon Dynasty, and it features the coexistence of cultural heritage preserved in the Gungisi relic exhibition room inside Seoul Citizen Hall and the digitally restored cultural heritage, allowing visitors to experience history by crossing between virtual and real worlds.

Case of the public-private collaboration digital cultural heritage restoration project 'Heribus Coexistence'. (From top left) Donuimun, Gungisi, Gyeongbokgung Jinharye [Photo by Cheil Worldwide].

On the 21st, the intangible cultural heritage of Gyeongbokgung Palace's royal ceremonies was digitally restored. With this restoration, visitors to Gyeongbokgung Palace can experience the 1887 (24th year of King Gojong's reign) celebration ceremony for Queen Sinjeong's 80th birthday by running the heritage metaverse application (app) 'Gongjon' at Geunjeongjeon Hall. The metaverse allows experiencing the Jinhalye ceremony at Gyeongbokgung without constraints of time and space.

A Cultural Heritage Administration official stated, "The digital restoration of Donuimun and Gungisi has resolved social and economic issues such as traffic congestion, budget, and spatial constraints that can occur during actual restoration processes of national heritage, presenting a new model for national heritage restoration and utilization." They added, "The recent digital reproduction of the Gyeongbokgung Jinhalye ceremony is the first case of digital intangible heritage reproduction based on a national heritage site and will serve as an opportunity to further enhance the quality of digital convergence experience services."

A Cheil Worldwide representative said, "The Heribus Gongjon project, a public-private collaboration, is meaningful in that it contributed to raising public interest in cultural heritage by developing new cultural tourism and historical education content based on our cultural heritage."