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^[[File SP-A-1-1]]
^[[File under Korea]]

^[[circled] Oct 10, 1966 [[/circled]] 

KOREA NATIONAL SCIENCE
MUSEUM CENTER

The Republic of Korea is moving rapidly into the modern world with an impressive rate of progress in manufacturing, education, construction and agricultural improvement. Korean scientists and educators are faced with the immediate need to communicate to the people an understanding of science and engineering and of the benefits which contemporary knowledge and skills can bring into their lives. At the same time, all thoughtful people wish the Koreans to retain their identity as Koreans and to preserve their national culture and traditions and their heritage of scholarship and progress, while effecting their modern development.

The Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea, recognizing the essential and effective part that museums are filling in education throughout the world, requested advice and assistance in establishing a Korean National Science Museum. Specifically, the Ministry invited the Smithsonian Institution to assist in organizing a conference on this subject. As the result a conference was held in Seoul, September 16, 1966, attended by 13 American scientists and science museum directors and 24 Korean scientists under the chairmanship of the Vice-Minister of Education, Mr. Tong-Joon Sung.

The conclusion reached by the conference was that there was a great and immediate need for science and engineering instruction which a modern science teaching museum center with extension programs and exhibits could effectively provide, for Korean people of all ages and all backgrounds of training and cultures. The teaching museum was stated to be the most effective way of illustrating the benefits of modern agricultural methods and engineering, the principles of manufacturing techniques, and the advantages of improved transportation. The museum would also explain the knowledge and skills required to share in the development, and finally would relate the evolving way of life to the Korean heritage and traditions and to the natural and cultural resources of people and the land.

The conference in addition to establishing the tentative scope and character of the museum center and its programs, recommended that a planning study be conducted to develop the details of the facilities, exhibits, and programs required to accomplish its objective. The conference recommended that a proposal be drafted stating the objectives of the planning study and estimating its costs, and that interested individuals and agencies in the United States seek support for the planning study.

During the conference period, members of the American delegation were graciously received by the President of the Republic of Korea, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Minister of Education presided at plenary sessions of the conference, and the Chairman of the Democratic-Republican Party received several of the American delegates. All of these officials spoke very cordially of their interest in establishing the science museum center as it was described and volunteered to support