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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

Directors of Overseas Offices Provide Personal Assistance

Since the launch of Foundation’s global network of five overseas offices (Washington, D.C., Moscow, Berlin, Beijing, and Ho Chi Minh City), which now includes a sixth office in Tokyo, the overseas directors have been busily advancing the Foundation’s interests in countries and regions around the world. They all recently returned to the main Seoul office to provide an update of their recent activities, along with an overview of upcoming projects and initiatives.


Washington, D.C. Office
Unlike the other overseas offices, which are housed within Korean embassy missions, the Washington, D.C. branch operates from an independent office space. Director-General Park Kyung-chul, Director Sung Yeon-chan, and a local employee are the regular staff of this office, which is assisted by a team of volunteer interns, whenever necessary. Director-General Park recalls that the most difficult task in opening overseas offices was the need to convince the Ministry of Planning and Budget of the importance of establishing overseas offices and getting approval for operating funds.
He noted that the overseas offices should always place a priority on directly monitoring the progress of projects and closely communicating with the Foundation headquarters in Seoul, rather than expecting assistance from staff of the diplomatic mission, which have their own responsibilities. Much like a global trading company, the Seoul office should function as the hub and the overseas offices as the spokes. In particular, Director-General Park emphasized the need for the Foundation to work with reliable partner organizations and earn the confidence of program participants.

Main activities
- UImplements programs planned by the Washington D.C. Office such as support for ‘Korean Culture Festival’ at U.S. universities and Washington, D. C. Korea Festival
- UImplements Korea Foundation Headquarters’ programs in the U.S. including Global Korea Speakers
Forum and Korean Culture Program
- UChecks support programs on-site
- UDevelops new programs, pioneers niche programs and focuses programs involving diplomatic missions,local pro-Korean figures, similar foreign institutions and Korean residents in the U.S.
- UUtilizes local accessibility and networks to take immediate measures for the implementation of
Korean Foundation Headquarters’ programs in the U.S.

Moscow Office
Although situated within the Political Affairs Department of the Korean Embassy in Russia, the Moscow Office maintains independent operations for the benefit of the Foundation, along with cooperating with the embassy in specific instances. As compared to most Western countries, because of a lack of basic information about Russia, it can be difficult to discern the actual situation and adopt appropriate measures. In addition, the relatively conservative culture and closed social atmosphere tend to complicate working relations, which can lead to less effective outcomes. As such, Director Kim Hoe-kil is focusing his efforts on building local networks, by program area, and actively utilizing Koreans dispatched to Russia to expand the awareness of the Foundation and its activities. Moreover, he intends to continue to make investments, tangible and intangible, based on a long-term perspective, rather than seeking to acquire immediate, visible achievements that cannot be sustained.

Main activities
- Helps relevant figures increase their awareness of Korea Foundation programs
- Lays the groundwork for Foundation programs from a long-term perspective
- Helps major universities offering Korean studies programs build solidarity through meetings and relevant activities
- Strengthens networks among Korea-related figures through a workshop for Korean language
educators and a meeting of Korea Foundation fellows in Moscow area

Berlin Office
Although located in Germany, the Berlin Office is responsible for handling Foundation matters in Germany as well as neighboring European countries, which involves cooperative efforts with Korean embassies and consulate general offices in 21 cities in nine European countries. Through her experiences of promoting the Foundation’s programs in Europe, Director Park Hyangjoo came to realize that, although there is considerable demand for assistance from the Foundation, various circumstances can make it difficult for the related organizations and persons to satisfy their respective obligations.
In this regard, it is important to maintain cooperative relations through regular contact and publicity measures. She also mentioned that the Foundation was often in a position of competing against Korean cultural centers abroad, in terms of implementing cultural exchanges, support for reference materials, and fellowship programs. In response to this, she called for the Foundation to make more efforts to reinforce its human resources and basic infrastructure.

Main activities
- UConsults on application for support and introduces programs satisfying local demands
- UTakes follow-up measures of the existing programs (checking career development of Korea Foundation fellows and finding out ways to provide them with support in the future)
- UConducts various surveys and collects information (enhancing understanding about the introduction of common educational system at European institutions of Higher Learning and its process and characteristics by country)
- UBuilds networks of Korea-related figures and conducts publicity activities (creating networks of Korean language educators in Europe, etc.)

Beijing Office
China is enjoying the most dynamic growth in the world at this time. According to Beijing Office Director Song Jung-sok, China receives worldwide attention due to its phenomenal development, which includes dramatic transformation of its hardware (external) and software (internal) characteristics. He thus often contemplates the ways in which the Foundation can consolidate its standing amidst such a rapidly changing Chinese society. Related to this, he believes that the Foundation should not be satisfied with playing a simple bridge or supportive role in international exchanges, but instead needs to establish a unique identity so that it can be distinguished from other international exchange organizations.

Main activities
- UConsults on new programs in advance, and reports opinions on applications for support
- UTakes follow-up measures for the existing programs (contacting, monitoring, taking further measures, examining problems, and recommending ways for improvement)
- UDevelops new programs and implements programs in cooperation with diplomatic missions such as joint cultural festival of universities with Korean language departments and Team Korea Project
- UConducts various surveys and collects information on the current status of other countries’ international exchange activities in China, recent trends in Korean language and studies sector, and other issues
- UBuilds networks with Korea-related figures in China through meetings of Korea Foundation fellows and maintenance of relations with those involved in Foundation activities

Ho Chi Minh City Office
Director Park Sangbae has taken close note of the vast economic development potential of Vietnam, with a population of some 80 million and its abundant resources. According to him, the fact that Vietnam has already paid the costs of unification and overcome various problems could provide some useful lessons for Korea. Along with saying that successful international exchanges are possible only by expanding overseas programs, both in quality and quantity, he mentioned that in order to be an effective representative of the Foundation and Korea, it was also necessary for him to be well educated about the local situation.
Due to a lack of personal contact with each other and the Foundation’s regular staff, there was much for everyone to catch up on. One relevant piece of advice from the overseas directors cited the need for program officers to communicate important matters through regular correspondence and written agreements, instead of informal e-mail messages. Meanwhile, the overseas offices stand ready to assist the Foundation’s staff with any program matters and related efforts.

Main activities
- UConsults on application for support and takes follow-up measures of existing programs
(finding out local situation, bridging the gap, building trust, enhancing effectiveness of follow-up measures, and making multi-faceted evaluation of those supported through collecting a wide range of information)
- UConducts various and extensive surveys and collects detailed and most-recent information
- UBuilds networks of Foundation-related figures and conducts publicity activities (developing and utilizing various measures of public relations suitable for local conditions in addition to regular media)
- UBuilds cooperative relations with overseas offices of relevant Korean organizations such as Korean Cultural Centers, KOICA and KOTRA

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