For more than three decades, Dr. SeongYong Park has worked at the intersection of culture, public policy, international cooperation, and sustainable development. A KDI School alumnus and the Founder and CEO of Culture Masters, he has built a career dedicated to showing how living heritage can strengthen communities, support international dialogue, and inspire new approaches to global challenges.

Dr. Park currently leads Culture Masters, an international platform that connects culture, education, creativity, technology, and international cooperation. He also serves as Publisher and Editor in Chief of Arirang Culture Connect, a global media platform that promotes cultural diversity, knowledge exchange, and dialogue across borders.

His professional journey began at the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, where he coordinated Korea’s participation in major UNESCO programs related to World Heritage, Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Memory of the World. He later served as a cultural advisor on UNESCO affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked as an international program coordinator supporting intercultural cooperation across Asia and the Pacific.

A defining chapter of his career was the establishment of the UNESCO Asia Pacific Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage(ICHCAP). As its Founding Director and Assistant Director General, he spent fourteen years building regional partnerships and strengthening cooperation among governments, experts, institutions, and local communities. During this period, he directed more than 200 safeguarding and exchange projects involving 48 countries, supported implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention, led capacity building programs, and promoted digital platforms for sharing cultural knowledge.

Dr. Park explains that his experience at KDI School helped him approach these responsibilities with a broader and more strategic perspective. His MBA studies encouraged him to see culture not as an isolated field, but as an area closely connected with economics, governance, international management, and sustainable development. The management skills and global outlook he developed at KDI School later became essential when negotiating with governments, designing regional programs, managing international organizations, and leading complex partnerships.

His interest in intangible cultural heritage grew through direct engagement with cultural communities. Over time, he came to understand that heritage is not primarily about objects, but about people and the knowledge they carry. Traditional practices, performing arts, rituals, craftsmanship, and community customs are living systems that help societies maintain identity, adapt to change, and strengthen social cohesion. This perspective also shaped his doctoral research at the University of Queensland, where he studied governance and policy for intangible cultural heritage in the Asia Pacific region.

After retiring from ICHCAP, Dr. Park chose to begin a new chapter rather than step away from international work. In 2023, he founded Culture Masters to reposition culture as a strategic force for shaping the future. The organization is developing initiatives such as the ICH Masters Global Platform, the Arirang Master Award, the World Intangible Heritage Network, and Arirang Culture Connect. Through these projects, Dr. Park continues to expand global networks linking cultural heritage with education, creative industries, peacebuilding, democratic resilience, and human centered artificial intelligence.

His two recently published books reflect this wider vision. Theory, Practice and the Creative Turn of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Opening New Paths draws on examples from more than forty countries and presents living heritage as a resource for creativity, resilience, education, and international cooperation. Culture is Power: Shaping the Future asks how humanity should navigate an age increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence. Dr. Park argues that while technology can improve efficiency, culture shapes values, relationships, creativity, and the choices societies make about their future.

Looking ahead, he hopes to establish Culture Masters as a globally connected platform that brings together culture, education, creative industries, international cooperation, and human centered technology. He also plans to continue interdisciplinary research on cultural heritage, governance, democracy, peacebuilding, and future studies.

To KDI School students and alumni, Dr. Park offers a message grounded in his own international journey. He encourages them to cultivate an interdisciplinary mindset, develop genuine curiosity about other cultures, and remember that leadership is ultimately about creating value for others. Reflecting on his time at KDI School, he says the experience gave him more than an MBA. It strengthened his confidence to think globally, lead across cultures, and pursue a lifelong commitment to international cooperation.