The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) and the Korea Paper Culture Foundation, together with the World Jong Ie Jupgi Organization, have begun full-scale efforts to have Korea’s traditional paper folding culture registered in overseas dictionaries under the name “jong ie jupgi.”
VANK, led by Director Park Gi-tae, and the Korea Paper Culture Foundation and World Jong Ie Jupgi Organization, chaired by Noh Young-hye, held a strategy seminar on April 20, 2026, at the foundation’s conference room in Jangchung-dong, central Seoul. The seminar focused on promoting the global recognition of “K-Jong ie jupgi (Korea Jong ie jupgi: Paper folding)” and its inclusion in foreign dictionaries.
The two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding in April 2022 and have since carried out a campaign to globalize K-style paper folding. VANK, which has focused on spreading digital content such as posters and card news online, has been running a campaign since November last year to have the term included in overseas dictionaries.
So far, request letters have been sent to 15 overseas online encyclopedias and dictionaries. Of these, five institutions have officially responded that internal editorial reviews are currently under way.
The seminar began with opening remarks by Noh Young-hye and Park Gi-tae, followed by a congratulatory message from Miriam Chung, an honorary professor at the University of Oxford.
Park said, “Based on our experience in correcting errors related to Korea in overseas dictionaries and promoting the inclusion of Korean words, we will introduce the cultural value and tradition of jong ie jupgi to the world and expand it as a new form of Korean Wave content. We hope that, with the support of global Hallyu fans, it will establish itself as a new cultural content.”
Noh said, “Korea’s jong ie jupgi is a traditional culture that has been used throughout daily life from ancient times to the present. We will pursue systematic promotion to spread its original name in the international community.”
Chung, who also serves as an advisor to the Hanji Revitalization Foundation, said, “In addition to efforts to have traditional hanji registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, I will also contribute to having jong ie jupgi included in the Oxford Dictionary.”
The seminar continued with a presentation by VANK researcher Lee Sei-yeon on the “Jong ie jupgi Overseas Dictionary Registration Project,” an introduction to VANK’s national policy communication platform by researcher Kwon So-young, and presentations by youth researchers on ideas for the global expansion of paper folding.
Participants noted that more than half of 18 major overseas dictionaries currently describe paper folding from a Japan-centered perspective, meaning that Korea’s own paper folding tradition is not being properly introduced. Registering the term in overseas dictionaries was presented as a key task to overcome these structural limitations.
In her presentation, Lee said, “The core of the campaign is not just to introduce the term, but to create an environment in which it is actually used.” She added, “According to Google Trends analysis, the search volume for ‘jong ie jupgi’ is very low compared to the Japanese term ‘origami,’ so we plan to expand its usage frequency and context in English-speaking regions.”
VANK youth researcher Lee Hyun-woo proposed a social media campaign using artificial intelligence to produce 20-second promotional videos combining Korea’s history with traditional locations as a way to promote jong ie jupgi globally.
Meanwhile, VANK said it plans to continue efforts to expand global awareness of “jong ie jupgi” and have it listed in overseas dictionaries, building on its experience of successfully registering “hanbok” in the Collins Dictionary in 2021.