Director’s Message

Hopes to Broaden the Scope of Communication about Cultural Heritage with People around the World through NRICH

I am very pleased to announce the fifth issue of the NRICH English Newsletter. The NRICH newsletter was first published in 2020 to promote the latest research results and news on Korean cultural heritage at home and abroad.

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic made the world to experience a whole new lifestyle such as daily life covered by face masks and the contactless and contact-free culture. In spite of the pandemic, the NRICH has continued to make achievements as the country’s leading cultural heritage investigation and research institute.

As of 2022, the NRICH is conducting 55 research projects covering the fields of archeology, art heritage, architectural heritage, natural heritage and conservation science. In the fifth issue of NRICH, I would like to introduce major achievements and popular topics among the ongoing researches by our institution.

This issue introduces the cases of the gold leaf artifacts found during an excavation in Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla Kingdom for 1,000 years, as well as digital datafication of Geumseokmun, or Korean epigraphs, columnar joints showing the geological diversity of the Korean Peninsula and heritage conservation technology exchanges with Thailand and Mongolia. I expect this issue will provide an opportunity to enhance understandings on cultural heritage researches in Korea and share our achievements.

The NRICH hopes to broaden the scope of communication regarding cultural heritage with people around the world through each issue. I would like to express my gratitude to all readers of the NRICH newsletter.

Director General of National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage

KIM, Yeonsoo