Incheon Int'l Airport's Korea Traditional Culture Experience Center reopens

인천국제공항 한국전통문화센터 새단장
Most of us know how exhaustive and stressful a long layover at an airport could be...
But worry no more... says Korea's Incheon International Airport. As those stopping over at Incheon International will now get to enjoy the renewed traditional culture experience center.
Our Kim Ji-yeon reports... it's where tradition and technology come together.
Around one-hundred people including the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the president of the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation gathered at Incheon International Airport to participate in the reopening ceremony of the Korea Traditional Culture Experience Center on Thursday.

"The center was built to promote Korean culture... and offers foreign visitors a glimpse of traditional handicrafts and music free of charge."

The center's hard to miss... located on the third floor of the airport's passenger terminal's duty-free area.
I asked this young man, who was decorating a hand mirror by arranging crushed bits of pearl with a toothpick., what his opinion of the center was.

"This is a beautiful experience to be able to do this especially for people like me whose just stuck in the airport for four hours. I was going to have to read or whatever but now I can do this incredible thing so I'm really pleased that I could be able to do this."

It took nearly a year to renovate the center because of the center's intricate interior design, which is shaped like a traditional fan.
The ministry inaugurated the center at the airport back in 2009... and has gone through renovation so that it could better reflect the government's initiative of "cultural convergence"... that utilizes IT devices to promote Korean culture.

"By using the center's tablets... visitors can virtually experience Korean culture. For example, they can check out how they'll look if they were to wear traditional Hanbok attires. I project around one-million people will visit the new center this year... more than last year's 730-thousand visitors."

Fifteen years after opening its doors, Incheon International Airport has been recognized as one of the finest in the world for its outstanding facilities and services provided.
It's also the world’s second largest airport in terms of air cargo and number of passengers.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News, Incheon.

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