The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism headquarters at Government Complex Sejong / Yonhap
For years, Korea’s “Culture Day” was a monthly luxury — a single Wednesday evening where discounted movie tickets and extended museum hours offered a brief respite from the daily grind. As the government attempts a sweeping expansion to make the arts accessible every single week, it is turning to citizen filmmakers to convince a notoriously overworked public to change their routines.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism hosted an awards ceremony Wednesday afternoon at a cultural space in southern Seoul to honor the winners of the 2026 Culture Wednesday Promotional Video Contest. The competition was designed to raise public awareness of the newly rebranded “Culture Wednesday” — an expansion of the long-running “Culture Day” program, which previously offered discounts on movies, museums and performing arts only on the final Wednesday of each month.
The grand prize, which carries a ministerial award and a 5 million won ($3,630) purse, was awarded to a short film titled “Mom’s Wednesday: Wednesday is Culture Wednesday,” directed by filmmaker Bae Min-seok. The submission stood out for its intimate, cinematic approach, tracing the quiet, repetitive routine of an ordinary mother whose mundane mid-week schedule is completely transformed into a vibrant, art-filled itinerary through the ministry's weekly discounts and late-night openings.
