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[Review] 2019 KF Public Diplomacy Project

Public Diplomacy through Globe Soccer Ball Team

Beginning on July 6, the Public Diplomacy through Globes Team conducted a three-week project in Kenya called Tembea Duniani (Swahili for “Walk the World”).
   The team produced globe-patterned balls featuring a map of Korea that included the East Sea and the Korean islets of Dokdo. These props traveled with them on visits to 10 institutions, including schools and children’s homes in Nairobi and Kajiado.
   Utilizing the beach ball globes, the teammates explained the concepts of continents and oceans, helping the children locate Kenya and Korea on the map and introducing them to Dokdo and the East Sea. The team also spoke about the March 1 Independence Movement and its similarities to Kenya’s independence movement, promoting mutual understanding of the two countries’ histories.
   In the coastal city of Mombasa, the team met tourists from around the world. They shared moments of friendship, looking for their respective countries on the beach balls and playing soccer with the Korean soccer balls.

Gook-honey Team

On July 20, the KF Public Diplomacy Team Guk-Honey cooperated with the Hanoi University (HANU) Department of Korean Studies to hold the Korea-Vietnam Youth Knowledge Exchange Forum. The meeting, held in Hanoi, Vietnam, was attended by over 120 students from the two countries who discussed various topics.
   Aimed at promoting bilateral exchange and cooperation, the forum proceeded in three sessions which focused on culture and media, language and education, and Korean Studies. Leading the sessions were young speakers including Guk-Honey team members, a Vietnamese YouTuber, graduates of HANU’s Department of Korean Studies, and the Vietnamese representative from the JTBC television program Non-Summit. The forum also offered fun experiences of Korean culture through various booths for calligraphy, K-beauty, and K-pop.
   The HANU students said the forum was quite beneficial to them as it provided an opportunity to learn about Korean culture while participating in mutual exchange with Korean youths. Although they had been studying the Korean language through the HANU Department of Korean Studies, they reported that they had previously had few chances to directly interact with Korean peers.

ТИГР (TIGER) Team

On July 26–August 6, the KF Public Diplomacy Team ТИГР (TIGER) presented a the Koryo Village Summer School for children of Koryoin (Korean descent in Uzbekistan).
   At the summer school, ТИГР (TIGER) members provided a set of diverse programs designed to help the children learn more about the culture of Korea, the homeland of their grandparents, and get acquainted with all things Korean. This included learning basic Korean language skills, taekwondo martial arts, sogo dance (small drum dance), and K-pop.
   When the summer school came to an end on August 3, a festival was held for all the residents of the Koryoin village. During the festival, the children introduced Korean culture by performing the dance they had learned at the summer school, sharing wonderful stories about Korea with the villagers.
   ТИГР (TIGER) was made up of a lecture and students from Pusan National University’s Department of Russian Language and Literature. Through their project, the team contributed to enhancing positive understanding of Korea among the people of the Koryoin village in Uzbekistan while invigorating this community of Korean ancestry.

#Public_Diplomacy #Kenya #Vietnam #Uzbekistan