![Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young. [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/07/14/news-p.v1.20260414.adb8b47d5fe5416ca126a4abb97e641a_P1.jpg)
The 5th Regional Culture Cooperation Committee, which will serve as a key communication channel between local cultural communities and the government, has begun full operation.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Tuesday that it has appointed 14 civilian members to the committee and will hold its first meeting.
The committee is tasked with deliberating on matters necessary for promoting regional culture, including the formulation, implementation and evaluation of the basic plan for regional culture promotion, as well as balanced regional cultural development.
The ministry selected the 14 civilian members after soliciting nominations broadly from other central government ministries, local governments and related public institutions, and gathering input from local cultural communities. The roster includes experts not only from the arts and culture sector but also from fields such as AI, tourism, traditional markets, law and startups.
Youth representation was sharply expanded — from zero in the 4th committee to 21.4 percent in the 5th. The increase reflects a government policy adopted in April requiring that at least 20 percent of members appointed to government-affiliated committees be youth, up from the previous 10 percent threshold.
The newly appointed civilian members are: Kang Ju-hyeon, professor in the Department of Tourism Management at Jeju National University; Go Youn-jung, chief executive of Go Impact Company; Kim Do-il, visiting professor at Dongguk University's Graduate School of Culture and Arts; Kim Byeong-pil, adjunct professor in the Department of Technology Management and the Graduate School of Technology Management at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; Kim Seon-hae, chief executive of WIB; Kim Tae-hyeon, chairman of the Gyeonggi Province Federation of National Arts; Nam Jeong-gyun, chief executive of Gallery Majuan; Son Dong-hyeok, chairman of the Korea Culture Policy Research Institute; U Mi-hyeong, professor at Chungnam National University School of Law; Lee Seol, chief executive of Snowball; Lee Won-jae, executive committee chair of Culture Solidarity; Im Hye-min, chief executive of Creatrip; Jo Yong-ju, director of the Chungju Ongdalsaem Market Culture and Tourism Market Development Project Group; and Han Jae-won, chief executive of Camp Box.
Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young said he hopes the committee "will play a central role in helping the unique cultural assets found across local communities spread as new cultural content, improving residential conditions in those regions on that basis, and ultimately achieving attractive, culture-led regional growth."
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