“According to Professor Seo Kyung-duk from Sungshin Women’s University, there has been controversy because a video produced for the ‘Sejong the Great’s Birthday’ event by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism contained images of a Japanese shrine.”
The professor pointed out on social media on the 16th, “An event was held at Gyeongbokgung Palace to commemorate ‘Sejong the Great’s Birthday’ yesterday, and the video background featured a Japanese shrine instead of a traditional Korean house (hanok).”
According to Professor Seo, the building inserted into the video is a photo of the Kata Shrine in Tokyo, which is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan.
Moreover, another building in the video used an image featuring the style of a Chinese temple.
The video was played several times before the main event started, but it was reportedly not shown during the main event.
Professor Seo criticized, saying, “While it is important to widely promote Hangeul and the Korean language worldwide, it is unacceptable for us to make such ridiculous mistakes at domestic events,” adding that “instead of blaming the company that produced the video, the government agency that failed to properly manage and supervise should be more reflective.”