By Diplomacy Journal Lee Jon-young

Folk painting is a traditional art form embodying the Korean people's aesthetic sensibility and spirit of daily life. It fills the murals of ancient palaces and the folding screens of folk museums, and today, 200,000 folk painters wield their brushes.

Yet, folk painting is nowhere to be found in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's (MCST) Cultural Arts Promotion Act. While crafts are included, and even ‘comics’ are covered, folk painting doesn't even have a name in the legal framework. Is this truly normal?

The MCST proclaims the globalization of K-Culture. However, it has excluded folk painting —the very root of this culture—from its laws and policies, demonstrating an attitude that falls short of even the recognition by foreign scholars or visitors. While folk paintings are abundant in palaces and museums, they leave no trace in the ministry's official classification of arts. This is the result of neglecting traditional arts and being mired in administrative convenience.

What's even stranger is that while there is no folk painting category, derivative content like ‘folk painting hanbok’ is actively utilized. Ignoring its identity while only exploiting modified cultural products borders on deception. This reflects the ministry's lowly perception of folk painting as mere ‘hobby art’ rather than a national artistic asset, amounting to dereliction of duty.

Despite a population of 200,000 folk painters, the reality that they are not recognized as ‘artists’ within the institutional framework is a disgrace to national cultural policy. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism talks about the diversity of K-Culture without supporting folk painting. How can a flower that denies its roots bloom long in the world?

The institutionalization of folk painting can no longer be delayed.

First, folk painting must be explicitly defined in the Arts and Culture Promotion Act. It must establish its status as an independent traditional painting genre, not as a subsidiary category of painting or crafts.

Second, a national-level policy to promote folk painting must be established. The urgent priorities are establishing a promotion center, supporting artists, and invigorating education, research, and exhibitions.

Third, K-folk painting must be developed into global content. Following K-pop and K-dramas, folk painting must be cultivated as a representative brand of Korean aesthetics.

The Cultural Arts Promotion Act without folk painting is incomplete. This is not merely an administrative oversight, but a policy betrayal that abandons the state's duty to preserve Korea's traditional culture.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism must no longer neglect folk painting. The cry of the 200,000 folk painters holding brushes even at this very moment is clear.

 “K- culture without folk painting is a tree without roots.”