KOREA FOUNDATION

[Review] 2019 KF Public Diplomacy Project

Tea Culture Platform CNCD Team

From August 15–22, KF Public Diplomacy Project team Tea Culture Platform CNCD held Korean Tea Culture Concerts in Copenhagen, Denmark. CNCD, a community of tea-loving young adults, presented four tea culture workshops and “talk concerts,” presenting a Korean tea ceremony and tasting experience to share the joys of indigenous Korean teas with Danish attendees.

Participants not only tried a variety of teas but also learned about Korean tea culture, including dagu, traditional Korean tea utensils; dasik, traditional cookies eaten along with tea; daak, the music heard while enjoying tea; and information on herb teas and meditation.

CNCD’s project contributed to enhancing Danish understanding of Korean culture and spreading a positive image of Korea in the Scandinavian country, enabling locals to have a comprehensive experience of Korean tea culture.

ITDA Team

Team ITDA was in Greece and Switzerland from August 21–September 4, conducting a project to promote Korean books.

ITDA operated a Korean booth at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress (WLIC), attended by over 3,500 library officials.

The ITDA members came up with the idea of running a booth at WLIC as they felt that, even though global interest in Korea has increased markedly thanks to the Korean Wave, libraries worldwide still tend to lack Korean books or books on Korea. At the event, they introduced Korean books, both paper and electronic, of various categories to librarians from across the world and explained how international libraries could receive Korean book donations.

The ITDA booth was visited by over 650 people from higher education institutions as well as national and public libraries, including professors and librarians from Egypt, India, Norway, and the United States. Many visitors expressed their wish to obtain Korean books in the future. The team was able to provide valuable information about the distribution of Korea-related books to various destinations around the globe.

CreativeThon Team

CreativeThon, a KF Public Diplomacy Project team seeking to solve social problems through technology, spent August 28–September 8 in Mongolia introducing smart farming and promoting an exchange of Korean-Mongolian food culture.

With the understanding that the primarily meat-based Mongolian diet can cause health problems, CreativeThon mapped out a plan to promote vegetable-based Korean cuisine in Mongolia by using information and communications technology (ICT).

The team studied vegetables well suited to the climate in Mongolia and developed smart farms to help Mongolian families grow vegetables at home. They also introduced smart farming to four colleges and libraries and led training on how to cultivate vegetables through these farms. Vegetables produced through smart farming were then served to Mongolian participants in bibimbap, a Korean dish made of mixed rice and vegetables, and bibim mandu, dumplings with vegetable stuffing. The team’s project successfully combined advanced ICT and healthy Korean food culture to help the people of Mongolia in their daily lives and to broaden understanding of the many facets of Korea.

Denmark Greece Mongol Public Diplomacy