S. Korea becomes member of UNESCO cultural diversity committee

SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has been chosen to be a member of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the culture ministry said Monday.

The election took place during the sixth ordinary session of the Conference of Parties to the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris from Monday to Thursday last week.

Since entering into force March 18, 2007, the UNESCO convention has been ratified by 145 member states of the U.N. body. Its intergovernmental committee responsible for promoting the objectives of the convention and encouraging and monitoring its implementation consists of 24 member countries in six continental groups around the world.

South Korea joined the convention in 2007 and made a domestic law on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions in 2014. It will work as a member of the committee's Asia-Pacific group for the next four years till June 2021. Two other members of the regional group are China and Indonesia.

sshim@yna.co.kr
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