GAC opens online collection on the DMZ

Tech

Published: 22 Feb. 2023, 18:16 Updated: 24 Feb. 2023, 16:29

GAC opens online collection on the DMZ

A Korean War (1950-53) veteran listens to a guide's explanation of Google Arts & Culture's DMZ project at an event titled “Amazing Google Arts & Culture DMZ” held at the War Memorial of Korea on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Online cultural hub Google Arts & Culture has added the demilitarized zone dividing South and North Korea to its collection of digitized art and civilizational artifacts from around the world.

Google Korea and the Ministry of Patriots and Veteran Affairs introduced the “Korea’s Demilitarized Zone,” or “DMZ” collection at a co-hosted event at the War Memorial of Korea of Korea on Wednesday.

The DMZ is the heavily fortified no-man's land separating North and South Korea, created at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Some 250 kilometers (155 miles) long and 4 kilometers wide, the zone is also an ecological treasure trove home to hundreds of rare plants and animals.

Google Arts & Culture partnered up with 10 cultural Korean institutions including the Ministry of Patriots and Veteran Affairs to complete the online collection, the first in a series of government-planned projects this year to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted the Korean War.

“To commemorate the 70th anniversary, we have planned a variety of projects and events to highlight our country as we overcame the war atrocities to become a developed country, and also to show our gratitude to the 22 allied countries,” said Park Min-shik, the Minister of Patriots and Veteran Affairs at the event.

“And for our first project revealed today, we have partnered up with global IT company Google to showcase our 70-year record to people around the globe.”

Google Arts & Culture, known as GAC, is an online service and mobile app that hosts some 3,000 collections from cultural institutions worldwide.

The "Korea’s Demilitarized Zone" includes 5,000 material items, 60 curated exhibitions and 1,000 images of rare plants and animals that thrive within the DMZ, all available for viewing online or through the mobile app.

“Some may wonder why Google did a project on the demilitarized zone,” said Google Korea’s country director Kim Kyoung-hoon.

“The project’s aim falls in line with Google — to systemize information worldwide so that anyone can access them anywhere without restrictions."

Kim also has a personal connection to the DMZ.

"It’s not mentioned in the project, but my grandfather is a war veteran and I teared up listening to the stories of veterans this morning. I recommend users to virtually look around the DMZ through Google Street View technology and audio which the Google team recorded for a more engaging, immersive tour,” he said.

About 200 war veterans, their family members, organizations that worked on the project and 22 ambassadors from the embassies of countries that participated in the Korean War gathered to see the opening of the collection.

Lee Byung-gi, the grandson of Lee Hak-soo who joined the Marines to protect his country in 1951, and Defne Annette Esin Karabenli, the granddaughter of American war veteran Richard Whitcomb, also participated in the event, giving speeches about their grandparents.

War veterans, Google Korea's Country Director Kim Kyung-hoon, Minister of Patriots and Veteran Affairs, Park Min-shik and ambassadors of embassies from allied countries participate at “Amazing Google Arts & Culture DMZ” held at The War Memorial of Korea on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

GAC’s project manager Simon Rein remotely conducted the project for three years amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are not experts on culture and related topics,” Rein emphasized.

“Cultural institutions are the experts. We can make and put the technology to use for archives, and libraries to share their stories.”

He added that the collection utilized many technologies, including "augmented reality and 3-D modeling used to portray the rare animals which live in the zone.”

Kim hopes this is a gateway for younger people and the world to learn about the "forgotten war."

“We hope new interpretations, perspectives can be born from the richness of our cultural heritage, the DMZ, which is a symbol of the war, a place where once bombs exploded and gunshots filled,” said Kim. “Not only for Koreans, but for people all across the world.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]