"Radio & TV Change the World" exhibition at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary

It would not be wrong to say that the birth of broadcasting could draw the line between ancient and modern Korea. Every historical fact, which we know now, such as Japanese Emperor Hirohito's declaration of surrender in 1945 or the first reunion for North and South Korean families in 1983 couldn't be engraved in our memory without power of broadcasting. The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, which opened next to the Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul two years ago, is holding an exhibition "Radio & TV Change the World," showcasing the history of broadcasting with participation from local broadcasters. "This exhibition shows how TV and radio impacted modern Korea," said a curator of the museum.

Comprised of four parts per period from 1920 to present, the exhibition space on the first floor of the museum is filled with rare archival broadcast collections such as old-time radios and TVs and broadcasting materials ranging from script of radio drama to popular television shows of the present.

Visitors will feel like they are travelling into the past at the first part of the exhibition as it traces back to the 1920s when the radio device was in its prime. As the most advanced technology of the time, radio played a pivotal role of delivering information and enjoyment to listeners until 1960s when the country had gone through Japanese colonial era (1910-1945), establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948, 1950-1953 Korean War and Park Chung-hee's military regime in 1961. A rare sound source of Japanese Emperor Hirohito's declaration of surrender on Aug. 15, 1945 is also can be heard.

The second part covers cultural changes after the television had come into wide use. Since the state-run broadcaster KBS started to broadcast in black-and-white in 1961, television became a symbol of the upper class. With additional stations such as MBC and TBC, more than a million owned a television set by the early 1970s. Video images and screenplays of the television dramas and shows are featured as well. Unlike the second part, which sheds light on black-and-white TV programs, audiences will see various kinds of color TV programs in the third section. Korea's color broadcasting started in 1980 right after the government allowed manufactures to sell color television set in August of that year. The third part also shows how the military regime had utilized TV to maintain their dictatorship during 1980s, featuring television primetime news shows which always began with what the then president Chun Doo-hwan, who seized power in military coup in 1980, had done every day. The last section displays the country's contemporary media contents including Paik Nam-june's 1990 work, "Pororo the Little Penguin," an animated film for kids, and more.

source:Baek Byung-yeul