The government said Tuesday it will construct a multipurpose cultural facility where foreigners can experience traditional Korean culture in Seoul’s city center.
The facility, named the “K-Experience,” will be located next to Gyeongbok Palace, at the former site of a residential building for the U.S. Embassy.
Separately, the gymnastics stadium in Seoul’s Olympic Park will be transformed into an outdoor K-pop concert hall with 15,000 seats by 2017, the government said.
These were included in a comprehensive plan announced by Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Kim Jong-deok to outline the path of the Park Geun-hye government’s cultural policies for the second half of her term.
“We hope to contribute to rediscovering the value of traditional Korean culture by combining it with state-of-the-art technologies,” Kim said of the K-Experience during a news conference in Seoul.
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The envisioned facility, to be constructed in cooperation with the Korean Air Lines Co., is part of the government’s program to establish a culturally thriving country by building major infrastructure.
“We plan to make it into a building of four or five stories and complete the first phase of the construction by 2017,” said Cho Seong-bae, an executive director of the country’s top air carrier, during the conference.
The company had come under fire for trying to construct a luxury hotel on its land next to the royal palace.
“K-Experience will make full use of the 37,000 square meters of land,” Cho said. “No lodging facilities will be included.” (Yonhap)
