The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will provide links to cultural content from its affiliated bodies that the public can enjoy during Chuseok.

The decision to provide this service was announced Friday during a Health Ministry press briefing, where authorities encouraged the public to stay home during the nation’s major traditional holiday.

“We expect that many citizens will be staying at home instead of heading to their hometowns for the safety of their families and relatives this Chuseok,” Yoon Tae-ho, a senior Health Ministry official, said during the press briefing. “We will support various contactless cultural activities before and after the Chuseok holiday.”

Yoon explained that the content will come from 29 Culture Ministry-affiliated bodies, including the Seoul Arts Center and the National Theater of Korea.

The links will be provided through www.culture.go.kr, a website the Culture Ministry launched in March when the novel coronavirus situation in South Korea took a serious turn. The website currently provides 57 links to cultural content provided through the online platforms and YouTube channels of the individual affiliated bodies.

“There will be a separate tab on the existing website. Under the new tab, users will find links to selected content related to Chuseok or special content from the individual bodies that is newly available for the holidays,” a Culture Ministry official told The Korea Herald, saying the new tab would probably be ready sometime between Sept. 28 and Sept. 30.

During the press briefing, Yoon also announced plans to provide diverse cultural video content such as plays, operas and musicals through Naver TV by Sept. 4.

“Links to free content on Naver TV also will be provided on the Culture Ministry’s website as well,” the Culture Ministry official added.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)