Sponsor of the 30th Jeonju Hanji Culture Festival

Cooperating with Jeonju on traditional hanji preservation since 2018

Supporting successor training, domestic raw materials and new markets

Korea Credit Union Federation President Ko Young-chul delivers opening remarks at the 30th Jeonju Hanji Culture Festival, held Thursday at the Korea Traditional Culture Center in Jeonju. [Korea Credit Union Federation]
Korea Credit Union Federation President Ko Young-chul delivers opening remarks at the 30th Jeonju Hanji Culture Festival, held Thursday at the Korea Traditional Culture Center in Jeonju. [Korea Credit Union Federation]

The Korea Credit Union Federation sponsored the 30th Jeonju Hanji Culture Festival, lending its support to the preservation of traditional hanji and the revitalization of the regional hanji industry. Since 2018, the federation has worked with Jeonju on a broad range of support projects covering the hanji industry, including training successors to hanji artisans, domesticating raw material production and opening new markets.

The federation announced Monday that it participated as a sponsor of the 30th Jeonju Hanji Culture Festival, held Thursday through Saturday at the Korea Traditional Culture Center in Jeonju.

Since 2018, the federation has partnered with Jeonju to support the production, retail and cultural spread of Jeonju hanji. Its efforts have included establishing the Jeonju Hanji Cooperative, developing hanji-related products and expanding their distribution, and training the next generation of Jeonju hanji artisans. The federation also supplied traditional window paper to the four Joseon-era royal palaces and historic private residences, and planted paper mulberry — the raw material for hanji — on land purchased near a royal stable site, advancing both the domestication of raw materials and local environmental improvement.

Marking its 30th anniversary this year, the festival was organized as a participatory event under the slogan "Now, HANJI," allowing residents to experience traditional hanji firsthand. The opening ceremony was attended by Korea Credit Union Federation President Ko Young-chul, Jeonju Mayor Jo Ji-hun, hanji artisans, cultural figures and Jeonju residents.

Festival programs included a Jeonju hanji sports day, demonstrations of the traditional hanji manufacturing process and papermaking techniques, and hands-on hanji crafts and calligraphy workshops. A Jeonju hanji lantern exhibition ran alongside a business zone and sales zone designed to expand the market for hanji products.

A decision on whether traditional hanji will be inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is also expected this year. UNESCO has placed South Korea's nomination — titled "Traditional knowledge, skills and cultural practices of hanji-making" — on the review list for inscription this year, with a final decision expected in December. The festival's opening ceremony included an event calling for hanji's UNESCO inscription.

"We hope that Jeonju hanji, which carries the breath of our ancestors, will become widely recognized as a proud cultural heritage celebrated around the world," Korea Credit Union Federation President Ko said. "The federation will continue to support the preservation and development of Jeonju hanji as a partner that stands alongside local communities."

Meanwhile, the federation is pursuing corporate social responsibility initiatives aimed at discovering and preserving regional traditional culture and unique local resources, and linking them to local economic revitalization. It plans to continue community partnership projects through cooperation with local organizations and related institutions.


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