SEOUL, September 17 (AJP) - Traditional crafts from all Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, including the newest member, Timor-Leste, were on display Thursday in Jeonju as a new ASEAN cultural hall opened in the southwestern South Korean city.
Timor-Leste was formally admitted as the bloc's 11th member on Oct. 26, 2025, at the 47th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur. The half-island nation applied in 2011, held observer status from 2022, and its entry marked the group's first expansion since Cambodia joined in 1999.
The Jeonju exhibition is the first large-scale show in South Korea to bring together cultural heritage from all 11 member states, according to the ASEAN-Korea Centre, which runs the new hall. The ASEAN-Korea Centre (AKC) is an intergovernmental organization founded by South Korea and the ASEAN member states in 2009 to promote trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchange between the two sides.
Titled "ASEAN: Where Hands Bridge Time," the inaugural exhibition presents about 70 objects made and handed down by artisans across Southeast Asia. Masks, textiles, musical instruments and shadow puppets fill the space, and the title refers to the way these traditions have survived from one generation to the next through the skill of their makers.
AKC assembled the collection with help from ASEAN embassies in Seoul and cultural agencies in each member state.
For Seoul, the hall is part of a wider diplomatic push. In congratulatory remarks read at the ceremony by Kwon Jae-hwan, the foreign ministry's director-general for ASEAN and Southeast Asian affairs, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun tied the opening to President Lee Jae Myung's policy vision for the region.
"In fact, Korea intends to do everything short of actual membership under the ASEAN-ROK CSP vision," Cho said.
CSP refers to the comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest tier of ties ASEAN extends to outside partners, which South Korea and the bloc adopted in October 2024. Cho described the new hall as a response to "ever-expanding relations and rapidly growing ASEAN communities in Korea," and said he hoped it would "signal more ASEAN Halls down the road in different parts of Korea."
Jeonju ASEAN Hall is the center's third, after halls in Seoul and on Jeju Island, and the first in the Honam region, the southwestern part of the country that covers the Jeolla provinces. It sits inside the Korea Traditional Culture Center, about a five-minute walk from Jeonju Hanok Village, a district of traditional tile-roofed houses that ranks among South Korea's most visited cultural destinations.
Kim Jae-shin, AKC's secretary general, told guests that the hall was meant for Koreans discovering Southeast Asia and for the region's own people living in the country. He said he hoped it would be "a welcoming space where they can share their cultures and maintain a connection with their home countries."
Jeonju Mayor Cho Ji-hun said the city would use exhibitions and arts programs run with AKC to move toward its goal of becoming one of Asia's five leading cultural industry cities.
Speaking for the Philippines as ASEAN's chair for 2026, Ambassador Bernadette Therese C. Fernandez credited Kim with pushing to make the bloc's presence known in cities across South Korea, and said the hall would serve as "a physical reminder of why we want lasting peace and stability in the region."
Fernandez also acknowledged Timor-Leste's ambassador, António de Sá Benevides, who chairs the ASEAN Committee in Seoul, the group of Southeast Asian ambassadors posted to the South Korean capital.
The program also included Heungboga, a work of pansori, the Korean tradition of long-form storytelling through song, performed by the Jeonbuk State Gugak Center. Filipino singer Dorado, who finished second on the JTBC audition show Sing Again 4 in January, was set to sing "Golden" from the animated film KPop Demon Hunters and Cho Yong-pil's "The Dreams."
Beyond the exhibition, AKC plans to run the hall with the Jeonju Cultural Foundation as a venue for regular public programs aimed at residents and tourists.
One of them, the ASEAN Brunch Box, pairs signature pastries from Lee Sung Dang, a well-known bakery in nearby Gunsan, with specialty coffee from Timor-Leste. An ASEAN Cooking Class will teach participants to make dishes such as Vietnamese bánh xèo, a crisp rice-flour pancake, and Indonesian nasi goreng, or fried rice, under the guidance of a Southeast Asian culinary expert.
Both programs will run once a month on selected Saturdays, with schedules and cooking class registration posted on the hall's Instagram account, @aseanhall_akc.
AKC also tied the hall to Jeonbuk State's bid to host the 2036 Summer Olympics, saying it expected the venue to raise Jeonju's profile as an international city.
Jeonju ASEAN Hall is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
