Culture agency to give 1st briefing to pres. transition team

The Cultural Heritage Administration will be the first government agency to give a briefing to the presidential transition committee Friday, the first day of briefings by state offices.

This is considered preferential treatment for the agency considering that in 2008, it merely held a briefing as part of the one given by the Culture, Tourism and Sports Ministry on the final day for the previous transition committee. The ministry will give its briefing on the final day (Jan. 17) again for the latest committee as well.

Ministries and agencies to provide briefings on the first day are in charge of state affairs that President-elect Park Geun-hye considers core state agenda, including the Small and Medium Business Administration, the Defense Ministry and the Health and Welfare Ministry. Sources in and out of the transition committee say the move reflects Park’s keen interest in cultural heritage.

In her memoirs that spanned the period between 1979, when her father President Park Chung-hee was assassinated, to 1998, when he entered politics, she said, “I toured historical relics nationwide, wearing comfortable shoes and jeans. Visiting cultural properties was the happiest thing to do.”

She also said she saw her father`s keen interest and policy on cultural heritage while acting as first lady, adding, “I had many chances to think about cultural heritage, and it`s most important to preserve and pass down our heritage to our descendants.”

At the time, former President Park ordered state support for the excavation of the Buddhist temple Bulguk-sa, royal tombs in Gyeongju, stone monuments at the tombs of 700 Buddhist soldiers from the Joseon Dynasty, and the restoration of Suwon Fortress at the national level.”

President-elect Park said, “I took note of the things I learned from my father.”

When she visited as a citizen the place where King Danjong was exiled in the Joseon Dynasty, she wrote, “I felt sympathy throughout the time I visited the site, as I felt as if I was trying to be his friend and he was trying to be my friend, and exchanging our mental anguish,” thus comparing her situation to that of the sixth king of the dynasty.

As a member of the National Assembly, President-elect Park submitted a bill on the Cultural Heritage Protection Act and got it passed in 2009.

A source at the Cultural Heritage Administration said, “At that time, it was difficult to set aside a fund exclusively for cultural heritage because the prevailing trend was to merge funds.”

The culture agency will reportedly focus its briefing session on job creation and galvanization of municipal and provincial economies through the use of cultural heritage nationwide to the transition committee. Among agencies to give briefings on the first day is the Korea Meteorological Administration (to the law, order and social safety subcommittee).

zeitung@donga.com