2024 New Year's Gathering and Concert for Cultural Artists
President Yoon Attends for Second Consecutive Year... First Lady Kim Geon-hee Absent
President Yoon Suk-yeol met with figures from the cultural and artistic community on the 9th and stated, "We will provide strong support, but we will not interfere or intervene in the work you do."
President Yoon made these remarks while attending the '2024 New Year's Gathering of Cultural and Artistic Figures' held at the Seoul Arts Center in the afternoon. Since his presidential campaign, President Yoon has repeatedly emphasized the policy of "supporting without interference" regarding culture and the arts.
The New Year's Gathering of Cultural and Artistic Figures is the largest annual event in the cultural and artistic sector, where artists, content creators, sponsoring companies, and key figures from arts organizations come together to exchange New Year's greetings. President Yoon's attendance at this event marks the second consecutive year. Unlike last year, First Lady Kim Keon-hee did not attend this year's gathering.
At last year's New Year's Gathering, President Yoon said, "If our industry grows but the level of culture and arts declines, we would have been greatly underestimated. I have felt a strong atmosphere of respect and recognition for Korea's depth," and added, "I will do my best to support you as much as possible."
President Yoon expressed gratitude, saying, "While attending school, I learned academics and history, and also music and art at school, but I think I studied much more by watching movies, plays, performances, and entertaining TV programs. Reflecting on myself, when I think about who I am and how my mental nourishment was formed, it seems that I grew and was shaped by the infrastructure created by all of you here."
He also referred to a question he received during a meeting at Harvard University during his state visit to the U.S. last April about why K-pop and K-content are loved worldwide, explaining the importance of non-interfering support. President Yoon emphasized, "'I think it is because the government did not intervene. If the government had intervened, it would have been difficult for Korean K-pop and K-content to be loved by people around the world,'" he said.
He added, "Then Professor Joseph Nye, who was sitting next to me, said, 'If President Yoon were a student, that would be an A+ answer,'" which drew laughter from the audience.
President Yoon also shared an experience that made him feel the power of culture. Referring to his singing of Don McLean's 'American Pie' at a dinner during his U.S. state visit last April, he said, "After returning to Korea, I realized that the American people's fondness and positive feelings toward our country were much greater from that one verse of the song than from many huge events."
The New Year's Gathering was attended by over 150 cultural and artistic figures, content creators, and representatives of sponsoring companies, including actors Lee Soon-jae, Choi Bul-am, Shin Hyun-joon, Lee Jung-jae; singers Kim Heung-guk, Kwon In-ha; artistic director Song Seung-hwan; Shin Su-jeong, president of the National Academy of Arts of Korea; traditional musician Yoo Tae-pyung; leader Lia Kim of the famous dance crew '1MILLION'; actor Ha Ji-sung (an artist with disabilities); professional gamer Kim Kwan-woo, who won a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games; and Song Young-sook, chairwoman of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group.
After the New Year's Gathering, President Yoon moved to the Concert Hall of the Music Theater at the Seoul Arts Center to enjoy the New Year's concert. Upon his entrance, about 1,000 audience members applauded. President Yoon waved his hand intermittently to greet the audience. Sitting in the front row, to his left and right, were traditional musician Shin Young-hee and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon. After the performance ended, President Yoon personally went on stage to encourage the performers, according to the presidential office.
The New Year's concert invited a diverse range of citizens from all walks of life, including national merit recipients and their families, multicultural and single-parent families, suicide prevention activists, artists with disabilities, children and youth with disabilities, staff from small room counseling centers and employment centers, and firefighting personnel.
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