ICHCAP

Gi Hyung Keum has joined ICHCAP, which is supported by Cultural Heritage Administration (led by Jae-suk Chung), as the Centre’s third Director-General. Mr. Keum comes to ICHCAP from Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), where he has recently been the Director-General of the Tourism Policy Bureau. His three-year term of office at ICHCAP runs until 31 December 2021.

The new Director-General has demonstrated excellent policy planning, coordination, and management capabilities in his positions at MCST, including Director-General of the Tourism Policy Bureau and Public Communication Policy Bureau. He has also worked as a senior program specialist for culture and tourism at the UNESCO Office in Bangkok and served as the Director of the Korean Cultural Centre at the Korean Embassy in Vietnam. Along the way he has gained extensive experience and knowledge in international cultural cooperation through UNESCO.

Mr. Keum will contribute greatly to ICHCAP’s efficient cooperation and mutual development with other international agencies and creation of a cooperative system in the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on beneficiary-centered approaches and important values such as sharing, openness, diversity, and communication.

ICHCAP was established as a UNESCO Category 2 Center under the agreement between UNESCO and the Korean government in July 2011. It operates various programs to support ICH safeguarding activities of the forty-eight UNESCO Member States of the Asia-Pacific region.