As a nonprofit incorporated association under the jurisdiction of the Korea Heritage Service, we are a knowledge community dedicated to safeguarding and sustainably engaging with living heritage, including intangible cultural heritage.
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In the spirit of UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, we pursue community-led heritage safeguarding.
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We specialize in cultural heritage, tourism, international development cooperation, and cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region.
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We contribute to improving the quality of life of communities and young people in developing countries and advancing sustainable development.
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We welcome the sharing of knowledge and experience, networking, and collaboration.
진행 사업 / Ongoing Projects
진행된 사업 / Completed Projects
파트너를 구하는 프로젝트 / Projects Seeking Partners
유관 활동 / Related Activities
Mission
Cultural Heritage Creative Lab helps living heritage thrive and be transmitted within community life, enabling its value to contribute to sustainable development.
We envision cultural heritage in Korea and around the world—including UNESCO World Heritage, Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Documentary Heritage—not merely as remnants of the past, but as living resources that remain meaningful in people’s lives today.
To this end, we collaborate with government agencies, public institutions, research organizations, cultural exchange organizations, UNESCO-related institutions, and heritage-bearing communities. Together, we strengthen the foundations of heritage safeguarding and explore creative ways to engage with heritage through education, tourism, and cultural content.
Core Values
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Community-Centered Approach — Communities, groups, and individuals who create, perform, and transmit heritage are the primary actors in its safeguarding and use.
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Connection and Sharing — Guided by our belief that creativity grows through connection, we foster exchange across heritage fields, between local communities and the wider world, and across generations.
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Mutual Respect and Equitable Benefit-Sharing — We work to ensure that benefits arising from tourism, cultural content, and other forms of heritage use flow back to communities, while guarding against excessive commercialization that undermines the meaning of heritage.
Principles for Safeguarding and Use
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Heritage-related activities are based on the free, prior, and informed consent of communities.
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Communities should be the primary beneficiaries of heritage safeguarding and use.
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Heritage must not be detached from its original context or represented in ways that distort its meaning.
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UNESCO’s Ethical Principles for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage guide all our activities.
Main Activities
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Research on safeguarding and revitalizing local heritage, including surveys of intangible cultural heritage and the development of safeguarding plans and roadmaps.
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Research, surveys, and consulting related to UNESCO heritage inscription, the Creative Cities Network, and Funds-in-Trust.
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Planning and organizing international intangible cultural heritage conferences and exchange festivals to promote dialogue and international cooperation among communities.
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Capacity-building for professionals through research, publishing, and education in cultural heritage and international development cooperation.
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Support for strengthening cultural heritage safeguarding capacities in developing countries.
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Cooperation with UNESCO, Category 1 and Category 2 institutions, National Commissions for UNESCO, NGOs, and Creative Cities.
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Sustainable connections between cultural heritage and the tourism and content industries, guided by the principle of returning benefits to communities.
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Implementation of commissioned and grant-funded projects for international organizations, national governments, local authorities, and public institutions.
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Support for heritage education, awareness-raising, and creative activities among younger generations.
Key Achievements
Safeguarding Local Intangible Cultural Heritage
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Development of Jindo County’s roadmap for international cooperation on UNESCO intangible cultural heritage (2026).
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Service on the Sejong City Cultural City Development Committee (2024–2026).
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Development of Miryang City’s UNESCO Creative Cities roadmap (2025).
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Preliminary research on UNESCO Creative Cities for Gyeongju City (2023).
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International conference involving Changwon City and the Korea Tea Culture Association (2024).
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Development of Gangneung City’s culture, sports, and tourism city-branding roadmap (2024).
International Exchange and Dialogue
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Advisory service for the Korea Foundation’s Korea–Central Asia Cooperation Forum (2023–2026).
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Organization of the 2026 Jindo International Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference, with participation from Korea, Japan, China, Mongolia, India, Vietnam, and UNESCO, and the World Folk Arts Festival, featuring performing groups from Mongolia, China, Vietnam, and India.
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Miryang International Cultural Heritage Conference 2025, with participation from Korea, Japan, China, Mongolia, Vietnam, and UNESCO.
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The Glocal Forum of Jindo, Korea’s Cultural City 2024, with participation from Korea, Bhutan, and UNESCO.
Research and Publications
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Cultural Heritage and International Development Cooperation (2024), selected for the academic category of the 2025 Sejong Books program.
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Beyond Preservation, Toward Coexistence—Cultural Heritage ODA and the Future of Communities (2026).
Networks
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Launch of the Cultural Heritage International Development Cooperation Forum (KoCHIF) and operation of its secretariat (2026).
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International advisory service for Mongolia’s National Center for Cultural Heritage (2026).
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Korea–Central Asia Special Session at the Busan City–UN Tourism Cultural Tourism Conference (2025, 206).
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Service on the Sejong City Cultural City Development Committee (2024–2026).
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National Assembly seminar on UNESCO-listed heritage in five Central Asian countries and cultural heritage ODA (2024).
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Cultural heritage content conferences at the Asia Culture Center (2023, 2025, 2026).
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Advisory service for the Government Procurement Cultural Products Association (2023–2026).
Foundations for International Cooperation
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Design of a Miryang–UNESCO Funds-in-Trust initiative to support the traditional music ecosystem of East Asian intangible cultural heritage (2025).
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Discussions between Jindo and UNESCO’s West Asia and Jakarta offices on developing a folk arts ecosystem (2026).
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Design of a Miryang–UNESCO Funds-in-Trust initiative to support the traditional music ecosystem of East Asian intangible cultural heritage (2025).
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Conference on intangible cultural heritage and the contemporary fashion industry involving Yunnan Province, China, and UNESCO Beijing (2025), with participation from UNESCO, China, Japan, Mongolia, and Korea’s Jinju and Miryang cities.
Organization Profile
Item | Details |
Legal Name | Cultural Heritage Creative Lab, an incorporated association |
English Name | Cultural Heritage Creative Lab (CHACL) |
Purpose | Safeguarding cultural heritage and developing models for sustainable development |
Legal Basis | Article 32 of the Civil Act and Article 4 of the Rules on the Establishment and Supervision of Nonprofit Corporations under the Jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Heritage Service |
Registration Authority | Korea Heritage Service |
Established | April 2022 |
Location | Daejeon, Republic of Korea |
Background
Representatives and experts from a range of institutions participated as founding members. These included the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO, the International Centre for the Interpretation and Presentation of World Heritage Sites under the auspices of UNESCO, the International Centre for Documentary Heritage under the auspices of UNESCO, the World Martial Arts Union, the International Esports Committee, and Current Korea, as well as professors from KAIST and the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage, the director of the National Folk Museum of Korea, and a lawyer authorized to provide notarial services.
In April 2022, the organization received approval to establish a nonprofit incorporated association from the Cultural Heritage Administration, now the Korea Heritage Service.
Membership
Our dues-paying members include former senior officials of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Cultural Heritage Administration; leaders and senior staff of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO and UNESCO Category 2 centres in culture, science, and education; senior researchers at public research institutions; leaders of public arts and cultural institutions and regional cultural foundations; members and expert advisers of national heritage committees; professors specializing in international development cooperation and digital heritage; graduate students at the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage and the University of Pennsylvania; lawyers; and leaders of public relations, marketing, and cultural enterprises.
Together, they bring expertise in cultural heritage, tourism, international cooperation with UNESCO, international development cooperation, area studies, and urban regeneration.
Director
Mr. KEUM Gi Hyung, an adjunct professor at the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage, was appointed CEO. He has served as Secretary-General of the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICHCAP), Head of the Establishment Task Force for the International Centre for the Interpretation and Presentation of World Heritage Sites (WHIPIC), a member of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, and a UNESCO Asia-Pacific regional cultural expert (P-4). He has also held senior positions including Director-General of the Tourism Policy Bureau and the Public Relations Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Head of the Sports Division at the Organizing Committee for the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade, and Director of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam. He currently provides policy advice and evaluation services to central government ministries, local governments, and public institutions such as the Korea Foundation and provincial and municipal cultural and tourism foundations. His co-authored books include Cultural Heritage and International Development Cooperation and Beyond Preservation, Toward Coexistence. He is also working with local governments and UNESCO to establish Funds-in-Trust (FIT), with the aim of fostering the sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage ecosystems.
