As her three-year term as Director of the KCCUK comes to an end, LKL took the opportunity to sit down with Dr Seunghye Sun to reflect on her time in London and to talk about the direction that Hallyu is taking in the UK.
Director Sun arrived in London just as the country was emerging from the Covid pandemic and returning to some form of normality. Quite apart from whatever agenda she had for her own tenure at the KCCUK – of which more later – she had to re-energise the programme of activities in an environment where people were still reluctant to come into the centre of town. But judging by the popularity of the fully booked craft sessions that have been held in 2025, London has recovered since then.
Like some previous KCCUK directors, she chose to make her home in the centre of town. “Where I live defines my life,” she explained, and unlike some of her predecessors – who chose Pimlico or South Kensington – she found herself a flat in the City, overlooking the river, and within walking distance of the Barbican, Tate Modern and National Gallery, also enabling her to walk to work when the weather suited.
Director Sun says she regards London as her second home and her “emotional home town”. It was where she first presented a paper at an academic conference – back in 2000 when she was a PhD student at the University of Tokyo (which built upon her undergraduate and MA studies in aesthetics and theory of art at Seoul National). The conference was the 30th International Congress of the History of Art. She followed her doctorate with further research in East Asian Studies at Harvard before entering the world of museums under the umbrella of the Ministry of Culture.
One of her first tasks when she joined the team at the National Museum of Korea was to work with the British Museum to help enrich the collection of objects on display at their recently-opened Korea Foundation Gallery, working with Dr Youngsook Pak. It was a task in harmony with the theme of that talk she had given in London in 2000, which was on the subject of Seasonal Change from Winter to Spring: the easing of winter hardships and the beginning of the thaw and hopes for the future. It was a time when Korean culture was little-known in the UK and Europe generally, and the task was to try to distinguish Korean cultural history from that of China and Japan and encourage the green shoots of deeper understanding to develop.
Her time at the National Museum was followed by the chief curatorial position at the Seoul Museum of Art. One of her tasks there, at the encouragement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was to ease trilateral tensions between Japan, China and Korea by organising a conference and two exhibitions (“Liquid Civilisation” and “Subtle Triangle”, engaging artists from all three countries) – using culture to open a dialogue where more formal diplomatic approaches were proving less fruitful. This was followed by her taking up a brand new director-level position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cultural cooperation and public diplomacy.
Her posting to the KCCUK in London commenced in March 2023, and her tenure has coincided with such highlights as the royal visit to the Korean community in New Malden and Blackpink being awarded honorary MBEs. Director Sun mentions some other highlights below. It has certainly been a significant period for the growth in awareness of Korean culture in the UK.
Most KCCUK directors say that they relished the chance of coming to London. And Dr Sun was no exception. For her, “London is capital of culture, the city of 1000 years of culture”; and the UK is the country of leading universities, and the country of Shakespeare. And these thoughts pointed the way to some of her early priorities at the KCCUK: the expansion of the university Korea Day programme to include Oxford, Cambridge and Leeds, and the promotion of Korean literature at major book festivals such as Wimbledon, Hay-on-Wye and Edinburgh aimed to bring Korean literature to a broader audience (– it should be remembered that the Korean Cultural Centre has a UK-wide mandate, not just London).
Another priority was to step back from the events themselves and consider Korean culture through in-depth discussion with a range of experts and opinion-leaders: to this end two Korean Culture forums were organised – the first of which was at the Royal Society of Arts – and it is hoped that these discussions will continue into the future.
As Korean culture has spread worldwide, the Korean government has opened cultural centres in more countries, and there are now 35 globally. So budgets are spread more thinly across the network, meaning that KCCs have to be ever smarter in the way they allocate funds, spending on things that need the support and initiative from government money, and to a certain extent standing back when commercial companies are actively involved. So things like K-pop, K-beauty, and some of the popular fiction market need little help from the KCCUK, but areas such as history and heritage, traditional music and arts are where the support is needed. Recently the KCCUK has promoted a series of history lectures and craft workshops which have introduced the audience to topics that would otherwise be inaccessible while celebrating and utilising locally available skills and knowledge; and the KCCUK’s recent exhibitions have explored the beauty of Korean heritage through innovative use of technology.
As Director Sun prepares to make her way back to Seoul, she is also working on finishing another major project: a book which distils the experience and knowledge gained throughout her educational and professional career in the history and promotion of Korean culture and its use in diplomacy. The book will be published in both Korean and English and has the working title “The Biography of K-soft power, from Hunminjeongeum to Blackpink”. The mention of Blackpink, both as a hugely popular girl group that has taken K-pop to global audiences, and as advocates for the Glasgow Climate Change conference, needs little explanation in the subject area of diplomacy through culture. But the reference to King Sejong’s promulgation of the new Korean alphabet in 1446 is less obvious, but goes to the heart of Dr Sun’s thesis: the new alphabet was invented to enable ideas to be communicated, without which there can be no mutual understanding. But the Chinese characters (which include the character “Jeong”, often translated as heart, affection) used to express the idea of communication can also mean “unfold the emotion”, which encapsulates ideas of opening the mind and intellectual hospitality, of connecting heart to heart.
LKL’s conversation with director Sun was wide-ranging, often going off on a tangent to matters not relevant for repeating here. But I had provided her with a list of questions in advance to give her warning of the areas I’d like to cover. She made things easy for me my providing some written answers which express her views more accurately than I could possibly summarise from our informal chat – particularly when it comes to the core of her ideas on the interpretation of the Hunminjeongeum. I provide these written answers below:
Looking back on your time in London, what has been the thing that you’ve been most proud of?
Looking back, what fills me with the most pride is not a single event, but the ‘sense of connection’ we fostered between our two cultures.
Specifically, witnessing the ‘Hallyu!’ exhibition at the V&A, and more recently, celebrating the openings of Mire Lee at Tate Modern and Haegue Yang at the Hayward Gallery in London (October 9, 2024, which was, appropriately enough, Hangul Day), followed by the announcement of Han Kang’s Nobel Prize in Literature (October 10, 2024), were profound highlights.
I observed British audiences dancing to K-Pop in a Victorian museum and striving to understand the raw, open wounds portrayed by a young Korean female artist at Tate Modern. This went beyond merely introducing culture; it proved that Korean culture can function as a universal language of emotion and solidarity. I am immensely proud that the KCCUK acted as the bridge for this emotional connection.
What role do you think that soft power in the form of K-culture can play in international relations?
I believe K-Culture transcends Joseph Nye’s traditional definition of ‘persuasion.’ It plays the role of ‘Emotional Hospitality’, or what I call in my upcoming book, ‘Shinjeong (伸情: To Unfold the Heart).’ In a polarised world, politics often divides us, whilst culture heals. K-Culture—ranging from BTS to Han Kang’s literature—has a unique power to embrace the sorrow (Han) of others and transform it into shared joy (Heung).
I particularly admire how BLACKPINK demonstrates solidarity among girls worldwide through their confident and beautiful perspective on womanhood. In international relations, this functions as a ‘soft emotional connection’ that binds nations together at a human level, creating a foundation of compassion and solidarity that makes hard diplomatic conversations significantly easier.
I’m sure that the number of KCCs around the world must be increasing as the government continues to invest in soft power. What does that mean for the budget that can be allocated to the KCCUK in London, and for the programmes that you can offer?
It implies that we must be smarter and more collaborative. Consequently, we have shifted our strategy from ‘Hosting’ to ‘Partnering.’
Instead of attempting to do everything alone with a limited budget, we collaborate with world-class British institutions such as the British Museum, the V&A, Tate Modern, the Barbican, and the BFI. Furthermore, we have fostered solidarity through ‘Korea Days’ with Korean studies scholars and the next generation of students at leading universities like Oxford, Cambridge, and SOAS University of London.
They possess the platforms and the audiences; we possess the content and the creativity. By pooling our resources, we maximize our impact. Ultimately, it is not about how much money we spend, but how effectively we can ‘solidarise’ with our local partners.
How do you go about planning the programmes that the KCCUK presents? For example, do you give the audience what you think they want, or do you give them what you think they ought to want? How do you strike the balance between entertaining and informing?
It is never a binary choice. I view it as a ‘Journey of Discovery.’ We utilize what they want—such as K-Pop or K-Drama—as an inviting gateway. Once they walk through that door, we offer what they might not know yet but will love, such as cultural heritage, history, and literature.
It is about empathy and trust. Because they trust our ‘entertaining’ content, they become open to our ‘informing’ content. My goal has been to curate this journey so that entertainment naturally deepens into intellectual and emotional hospitality.
Do you think that hallyu in the UK has reached its peak?
Not at all. I believe we have simply moved from the ‘Discovery Phase’ to the ‘Universal Phase.’
Initially, Hallyu was a fascinating novelty. Now, it is becoming an intrinsic part of daily life and a recognized ‘Zeitgeist’ (spirit of the times) in itself. When something becomes a genre, it gains longevity. We are witnessing K-Culture expanding from a youth subculture into mainstream high art and lifestyle. It is not peaking; it is deepening and widening.
What do you think is the next area of Korean culture to come to the fore?
I definitely foresee Korean Aesthetics and Visual Arts rising to the fore.
Through the aesthetics that serve as the philosophy of K-Pop, and highlighted by Han Kang’s Nobel Prize in Literature, the world is realising that K-Culture possesses profound philosophical depth, extending far beyond merely catchy rhythms. Furthermore, Korean contemporary art, particularly including Digital Art, is captivating the global art market. We are transitioning from ‘sensory’ enjoyment—such as music and cuisine—towards ‘intellectual and spiritual’ empathy.
A lot of the recent exhibitions at the KCC have involved the use of technology, from the use of AI to compose court music to the use of video projection to transport the viewer to a traditional Korean garden. What do you think is the role of technology in the presentation of Korean cultural contents?
I advocate for ‘Digital Humanism,’ specifically the co-evolution with Artificial Intelligence.
Technology in culture should not be a cold display of technical skill, but a warm medium for ‘emotional solidarity’ among humans. Projects like the AI court music or the Digital Garden allowed Londoners to physically experience the Joseon Dynasty’s aesthetics, which are geographically and historically distant. Technology dissolves physical boundaries, making the ‘aesthetics’ of our heritage accessible to everyone. It is the most powerful tool to unfold the heart of the past into the present.
What would be your advice to the next KCCUK director?
My advice would be simple: ‘Love London, and Listen to its people.’
The UK is a country with immense cultural pride and history. Do not merely attempt to ‘show’ Korea. Instead, endeavour to ‘dialogue’ with Britain. When you respect and understand their culture, they will open their hearts to ours. Be a good friend to London, and London will be the best stage for Korea.
I’d like to thank Director Sun for sparing the time for this interview, and wish her the best for her next chapter back in Seoul