JTI Korea announces arts support

Japanese tobacco company’s local subsidiary, JTI Korea, has announced an initiative to support the arts in Korea.

JTI said yesterday it has signed an agreement with Arts Council Korea for the “Nurturing Rising Artists” project.

The company issued a statement saying it hopes the project will help discover talented artists with great potential and support their creative activities. The goal is to help them expand beyond the national boundaries to a much wider global audience.

“It gives me great pleasure to support the creative activities of talented artists,’’ said Park Pyung-kee, general manager of JTI Korea.

The first two beneficiaries of the project are dancers Lee In-soo, CEO of the dance company EDx2, and Jeon Hyuk-jin, CEO of the art group Ground Zero.

Lee is a world-renowned choreographer who used to be a member of the Dutch dance company Emio Greco & PC. He received a gold medal at the Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition in 2011.

Jeon took first place in the male modern dance category at the Dong-A Dance Competition in 2007. He also received the Yokohama Dance Collection R Jury Prize in 2010 and Best Choreography Award at the Choreography Contest at the Masdanza International Contemporary Dance Festival in Spain in 2012.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]