[Opinion] Smithsonian on Korea

In Washington D.C., government official buildings are placed between the Capitol Hall and Lincoln Memorial. The White House’s site is not that prominent. Museums under the Smithsonian Institute are located in recognizable place, however. Sixteen museums are right in front of Capitol Hill. Government office buildings are in the back. Putting importance on culture in the political city, the city planner impressed the world with creative ideas.

The Smithsonian Institute was established in 1829 when British scientist James Smithson made a substantial donation to the U.S., a country he had never been to. The national educational institute runs research institutes, zoos and some of world’s largest museums that exhibit 140 million collection items. One of the most popular museums among them is the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. This facility is known for displaying bones of large dinosaurs and mammoths. Its convenient location and free admission attract 10 million visitors every year.

This May, an exhibition room for Korea is scheduled to open. The Korea Foundation, an institute promoting international cultural exchange, assisted with $1.25 million to build a sole exhibition room. This is the first of its kind among Asian countries. The museum is especially well known for its vast collection. Samples of fauna and flora and various folk arts are displayed. There are as many as 3,000 Korean relics in this museum. In 2003, North Korea asked for a retrieval of several collections, claiming that the museum took them from Pyongyang during the Korean War. Clothes and craft arts of the late 19 century will be displayed in the new exhibition room.

Many people feel their pride wounded when they find only a few Korean relics in foreign museums while traveling abroad. After the exhibition room of Korea was opened in the British Museum in 2000, however, the world’s popular museums started to have exhibition rooms for Korean historical objects. But many say that most collections fall far short of showing the true value of Korean culture. Exchanging collections would be a great way to fully introduce Korean culture to other countries. When we sit on our hands, we cannot expect others to know about our country.

Hong Chan-sik, Editorial Writer, chansik@donga.com