What is the origin of 'K'? Special exhibition opens at Cheong Wa Dae

An exhibition exploring the origins of K-culture is opening at Cheong Wa Dae.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Wednesday that the special exhibition "Palsaekchanran: Regions Full of K" will run at the Sarangchae hall of Cheong Wa Dae through December. The exhibition opened June 4.

The show departs from the question "What are the roots of the K we talk about?" and traces how Korea's history, cultural arts and the unique cultural assets of its regions have fed into and expanded as K-content. It highlights how the cultural heritage accumulated across Korea's diverse regions has become the foundation of today's K-culture.

On the first floor of Sarangchae, the section themed "Regions Are Full of K" introduces representative cultural content and local narratives from across the country. Centered on five major regions and three special zones, it reinterprets regional performances, cuisine, crafts, lifestyle culture and tourism resources through a contemporary lens — conveying the message that a distinctive K can be found anywhere in Korea.

The media art room hosts "The Prehistory of K," which reinterprets the history and aesthetics of Korean cultural arts through a modern sensibility, drawing on videos produced by the National Museum of Korea, regional museums and the Regional Culture Foundation. Immersive video content built around Korean symbols — traditional patterns, the gat hat, peonies, Korean color palettes and tigers — introduces the archetypal Korean aesthetic discoverable across thousands of years of history.

Every Wednesday afternoon during the exhibition's run, cultural events will accompany the show as part of a "Culture Wednesday" program. The series kicks off Wednesday with a performance by Go Yeong-yeol, a pansori singer who plays piano, followed by appearances by Art Kudo, a standout artist from the Cheongchun Microphone program, and Nancy Castro, a Mexican performer trained in Gyeonggi Province folk songs.

Meanwhile, a separate special exhibition, "Trajectory of Light," marking the first anniversary of the People's Sovereignty Government, opens Wednesday in the second-floor planning gallery of Sarangchae. It spotlights key policies from the past year pursued alongside the public under the banner of "light of the plaza," and displays scenes and records from summit diplomacy that built trust with the world through K-culture exchanges, along with diplomatic gifts.

A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism policy official said the ministry hopes the public will "feel firsthand the cultural strength of Korea and the achievements of its policies" through both exhibitions. "We look forward to the cultural potential and unique value of each region in Korea continuing to expand as the driving force behind 'K' in the world," the official added.