The National Museum of Korea says it will hold a world tour of “5000 Years of Korean Art,” reviving the decades-old exhibition to present the origins of Korean pop culture.

Yoo Hong-jun, the museum’s newly appointed director, announced the plan Thursday, saying the exhibition will show “the reality and potential of a K-cultural powerhouse around the world.”

The original exhibition, organized by the National Museum of Korea, ran from May 1979 to October 1981 and traveled to major cities in the United States such as San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and New York, as well as to the United Kingdom and France.

Highlighting the history of the exhibition, Yoo said it served as a great opportunity for Korean art to gain recognition in the West. 

He said his plan is to systematically, and on a large scale, reveal Korean art as the root of K-culture, adding that the exhibition will likely be held in two to three years due to logistics.

Yoo, who took office earlier this week, stressed that he accepted the position to answer the mission and demands of the times given to the National Museum of Korea, adding that the museum will work to actively foster public engagement with art.