'Goong-ee Doong-ees' wanted: K-Royal Culture Festival looking for volunteers

Korean Heritage

'Goong-ee Doong-ees' wanted: K-Royal Culture Festival looking for volunteers

Published: 09 Aug. 2024, 14:54

Goong-ee Doong-ee volunteers during the spring edition of this year's K-Royal Festival pose for a photograph [KOREA HERITAGE SERVICE]

The Korean Heritage Service and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation are looking for Goong-ee Doong-ees for the 2024 Fall K-Royal Culture Festival scheduled to run from Oct. 9 to 13.

"Goong-ee Doong-ee" refers to a volunteer who can communicate with Korean and foreign festival-goers. The organizers looking for volunteers who are either Korean citizens aged 18 and older or foreign residents that can speak Korean.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the K-Royal Culture Festival, the largest culture festival that is held twice a year — once in the spring and again in the fall — at Seoul’s five palaces and the Jongmyo Shrine. The recent spring edition successfully concluded with over 600,000 visitors from both Korea and abroad.

Applications for Goong-ee Doong-ee volunteers begins on Wednesday and will close on Aug. 29. Applications can be submitted through a Google Form that can be accessed on the festival’s website. After reviewing documents and an online interview, a total of 50 volunteers will be selected, 10 of them foreigners. The final results will be announced on Sept. 13.

Meanwhile, the fall edition of the festival will have a program highlighting the beauty of Korea’s hanbok (traditional Korean dress) to both citizens and foreign visitors. The program will consist of hanbok-wearing throughout Gyeongbok Palace on Oct. 9, Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910)’s sanguiwon (artisan that creates garments) fitting space from Oct. 9 to 13, a humanities concert surrounding hanbok on Oct. 10 and 11, a "best hanbok dress" selection event from Oct. 9 to 13 and other events.

For more information regarding the fall event and the Goong-ee Doong-ee application, visit the Korean Heritage Service or K-Royal Culture Festival websites.

BY AIDAN SONG [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]