While in university, I participated in VANK’s campaign to correct misinformation about Jikji around the world. As a part of its online and offline Jikji PR campaign, I researched 103 websites about the history of printing and promoted accurate information about Jikji. Besides correcting misinformation, I also focused on adding information about Jikji to the websites of museums, libraries, and national archives.

 

I thought that institutions in areas of history would be most likely to be interested in Jikji, so I compiled and targeted websites that introduced world history. Consequently, I made change on the websites of the Morgan Library & Museum (USA), HistoryofInformation.com (USA), and GB Times (Finland). I also received positive responses from the National Archives of the United Kingdom, the National Library of Australia, the National Library of Wales, and the National Library of Spain, informing that they would consider displaying or using VANK’s materials about Jikji at their institutions.

 

Promoting Jikji was much tougher than promoting the East Sea and Dokdo. Finding inaccuracies about the East Sea and Dokdo is relatively easy because we know what keywords to use in a search and we can easily spot them on maps. On the other hand, it is unclear where to look when it comes to Jikji. Also, it is not just about correcting misinformation about Jikji but also about promoting the universal value of Jikji as the world’s first movable metal type print. Convincing international audiences about why Jikji matters in world history was the most challenging part.

 

I had to make convincing arguments to those institutions who didn’t see the universal value of Jikji. For example, one of the institutions I contacted responded that Jikji is the world’s first movable metal type print but has not made as significant of an impact as Gutenberg’s printing press on world history. It added that Jikji could have made a bigger impact on the world if Korea had as much influence as the United States and Europe. Some institutions responded that they didn’t feel the need to inform their audience about Jikji. Most of the 103 institutions that I emailed ignored my email. Although the number of the websites that I made a change on was small, I am proud about those successes. As a result of my effort, the audiences of those websites around the world will continue to learn about the value of Jikji. That is very rewarding.

 

UNESCO gives the UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize every two years to individuals or institutions who have made significant contributions to the preservation of documentary heritage, in commemoration of the inscription of Jikji. However, not many people know about this prize. I hope that this prize will gain a strong reputation like the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize.