About the Sejong Cultural Society

Based in Chicago, IL, the Sejong Cultural Society was founded in 2004. It is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

Mission

The Sejong Cultural Society strives to advance awareness and understanding of Korea's cultural heritage amongst people in the United States by reaching out to the younger generations through contemporary creative and fine arts.

It is our hope that, through this, the rich culture behind Korea's colorful history will be accessible to people of any ethnicity and nationality while being a unique part of the larger, more familiar Western culture, and that such harmonizing of the two cultures will create a better understanding between them.

Programs

Music Competition - The Sejong Music Competition seeks to both encourage talented young musicians in their studies and introduce traditional Korean musical themes to young musicians.

Writing Competition - Open to pre-college students and young adults, the Sejong Writing Competition is divided into two categories:

Focusing on introducing students to Korean culture and history through literature, our essay category utilizes folk tales and contemporary literature to explore Korean culture, past and present.

Our sijo competition brings the sijo, a classic example of traditional Korean fine arts, to a modern English-speaking audience as a unique form of poetry.

Music Composition Competition - Traditional Korean music contains many unique elements, especially rhythmically and harmonically. The Sejong Music Composition Competition encourages composers to explore these elements and incorporate them into their compositions to create contemporary pieces for Western instruments that evoke Korean themes.

Using these pieces in numerous performances organized by the Sejong Cultural Society and our Music Competition, we hope to bring the world of Korean music not only to composers, but performers and listeners as well.