On May 18, 2023, VANK announced its commitment to promoting the global recognition of Taekkyeon, a traditional Korean martial art, by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Taekkyon Federation.

The MOU formalizes VANK’s plan to actively publicize and globalize Taekkyeon, marking the official launch of related projects. The agreement was signed at the Korea Sports Council meeting room in Olympic Parktel, Songpa-gu, Seoul.

The two organizations agreed on four key areas of collaboration: promoting and educating the public about Taekkyeon’s global recognition, expanding Taekkyeon’s cultural presence through social media, promoting both Taekkyeon and Korean history and culture globally, and other necessary cooperation as deemed essential. Specific details for these projects will be further discussed through working meetings.

VANK emphasized the importance of preserving and correctly promoting Taekkyeon, especially as it is listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The traditional martial art’s deep ties to Korean culture—such as its training attire (which is a variant of Hanbok) and the use of pure Korean terminology—make it an ideal vehicle for global promotion of Korea. VANK believes this offers a unique opportunity to showcase Taekkyeon to the world.

Park Ki-tae, Director of VANK, expressed excitement, saying, “This is the best opportunity in history to promote Taekkyeon. With VANK’s capabilities, we will promote it to the world. Like the saying that with a huge lever, you can lift the earth, we will be the lever for Taekkyeon’s global success.”

Jang Kyung-tae, Vice President of the Korea Taekkyon Federation, shared his enthusiasm: “VANK has been successfully promoting Korea’s true history to the world through campaigns about Dokdo, the East Sea, Kimchi, and Hanbok. Now, VANK has started a global Taekkyeon promotion campaign, and I am excited to share the dream of Taekkyeon’s global recognition.”

As part of the collaboration, VANK’s ongoing “Global Taekkyeon Promotion Campaign” will intensify. The campaign includes creating digital promotional materials about Taekkyeon’s significance, distributing them on social media, and organizing tailored events for global and local audiences. Additionally, short-form and multilingual videos featuring Taekkyeon will be shared, targeting Hallyu fans, including the ARMY fanbase of BTS.

VANK has also posted a petition on its platform “Woollim” requesting government support for policies promoting Taekkyeon worldwide, and registered a global petition on its digital diplomacy platform “Bridge Asia.”

At the event, Kim Young-chan, World Champion in the Individual Martial Arts Division of the World Martial Arts Masterships, and Seong Yi-ju, a national champion from Yongin University, showcased a Taekkyeon demonstration to great applause.

VANK has partnered with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST) to correctly promote K-Culture and Korean history to global audiences.

On March 27, 2023, at the Culture Station Seoul 284 in Jung-gu, Seoul, VANK signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MCST.

With over 160 million global Hallyu fans and a growing enthusiasm for K-pop, K-dramas, and other K-content, the global fascination with Korean culture is undeniable. However, Korean history and culture remain relatively underrepresented and often misunderstood.

Both VANK and MCST and recognize this issue and are taking steps to address it. They will collaborate on initiatives aimed at presenting K-Culture and Korean history in more engaging and creative ways for Hallyu fans and the broader international community.

As part of this effort, they will create bilingual (Korean and English) materials that easily explain aspects of traditional Korean culture, such as Hanbok, Hangeul, Kimchi, Taekwondo, traditional music, and dance. These materials will be distributed to over 26,000 global Korean cultural ambassadors from VANK and 7,000 overseas cultural activists from the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOCIS), including honorary reporters and K-Influencers. The goal is to ensure that Korea’s culture and history are accurately and widely shared worldwide.

Efforts will also be made to correct misinformation about Korean culture. The two organizations will focus on identifying and addressing inaccuracies in the information provided by major museums and cultural institutions abroad regarding Korea.

Additionally, collaboration will extend to 33 Korean Cultural Centers in 28 countries, 32 overseas branches of the Korea Tourism Organization in 22 countries, and 10 overseas business centers of the Korea Content Agency in nine countries to further promote K-Culture.

Yoon Seong-cheon, Director-General of the Cultural Arts Policy Bureau at MCST, commented, “The collaboration with VANK will be a crucial factor in spreading the charm of Korea’s unique culture, which is the foundation of K-content, to the world. With VANK’s 20 years of experience as a private diplomatic mission, this partnership will help elevate the global standing of K-Culture.”