Mutual agreement
After the World Choir Championships (13th August 2009)
INTERKULTUR and the province of Gyeongnam have come to a mutual agreement regarding the
cancellation of the 1st World Choir Championships. The international choir festival was supposed
to take place from 7th – 17th July 2009 in South Korea. But it was cancelled three days after
opening due to an Act of God as several choirs were diagnosed with swine flu infection. The
government of the province and INTERKULTUR agreed on this cancellation on 10th July
(compare documentation on this page).
165 choirs – 99 Korean and 66 choirs from abroad – from 32 nations had signed up for this event,
as INTERKULTUR had already declared in a statement on 16th July. Of these choirs 37 foreign
choirs had travelled to the first part of the event (07th –11th July). The opening ceremony on 8th
July was a huge success. The competitions of the first part of the event took place on schedule
and showed outstanding performances of the participating choirs. The official awards ceremony
as well as the closing ceremony however were not allowed to take place.
During the morning of the 9th July INTERKULTUR received the information by its South Korean
organisation partners that two members of an Indonesian choirs were suspected to suffer from
H1N1. During the morning of the 10th July the organisation partners confirmed that the first test
results proved positive in both cases. They were sure however that this would not effect the event
and that the event could be continued as the infected persons were easy to locate.
During a press conference on 10th July at 6 p.m. which had been convened by the central
government of the province the public was informed about the decision to cancel the event due to
the state of emergency that had come to pass. Immediately afterwards, INTERKULTUR informed
present choirs and all choirs that had not departed to Korea until that point of time about this
decision. Except for six, all choirs were informed duly before departing to Korea. Five ensembles
that could not be contacted in time arrived in Korea. As it became known a South African choir
was denied entry to Korea by Korean officials during a stopover at Dubai International Airport.
Until the late afternoon of 12th July 2009 the South Korean organisers as well as the central
government of the province unfortunately gave no official statement neither to INTERKULTUR
nor to the choirs about the measures that had been taken regarding the choirs concerned. By the
means of the information that INTERKULTUR received later by the South Korean organisers and
occasionally by the choirs affected as well as due to own experiences INTERKULTUR would like
to state the following:
Am Weingarten 3 Phone: +49 (0) 64 03 - 95 65 25 INTERKULTUR is a non profit organisation
35415 Pohlheim Fax: +49 (0) 64 03 - 95 65 29 registered in Gießen (Germany)
(Frankfurt/Main) mail@interkultur.com Reg. No. 1806, Förderverein INTERKULTUR e. V.
Germany www.interkultur.com President Günter Titsch
- Unfortunately the responsible officials did not separate infected persons from other people.
Choirs with infected persons were not separated from healthy choirs that were
accommodated in the same lodging.
- Because of the omitted separation complete dormitories with altogether 23 choirs that had
been accommodated there were put under quarantine. The catering for the groups enclosed
there was organised either not at all or only insufficiently.
- Only when the affected choirs departed from Korea, INTERKULTUR got to know that they
had been released from quarantine.
- Altogether 38 choir members were infected with the H1N1 virus. According to our
information these infections have worn off until now.
After 20 years of successful event organising INTERKULTUR deeply regrets organising an event
where an Act of God prevented the continuation and the successful handling of this event. Albeit
INTERKULTUR emphasises that it can not assume responsibility for all incidents that affected
certain choirs due to the measures carried out by Korean officials after the outbreak of H1N1.
Despite all efforts INTERKULTUR was unable to exert influence on these events. INTERKULTUR
is still in contact with all choirs that were disadvantaged due to the cancellation of the event and
will find an amicable solution for everybody. The jurors also regret the incidents. They have
assured INTERKULTUR as well as the choirs from their home countries full support. We deeply
regret the occurrences in Korea and all the troubles that affected present and arriving choirs.
Am Weingarten 3 Phone: +49 (0) 64 03 - 95 65 25 INTERKULTUR is a non profit organisation
35415 Pohlheim Fax: +49 (0) 64 03 - 95 65 29 registered in Gießen (Germany)
(Frankfurt/Main) mail@interkultur.com Reg. No. 1806, Förderverein INTERKULTUR e. V.
Germany www.interkultur.com President Günter Titsch