1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held an event to announce the results of the activities of “young public diplomats” in 2017 at Yongpyong Resort in Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do, on November 25. At the event, about 60 young public diplomats making up 11 teams shared their activities and achievements for the past one year.

o The young public diplomats, who are Korean undergraduate students or foreign students in the ROK, are divided into teams and engage in public diplomacy activities by making plans for projects targeting foreigners in the ROK for themselves, utilizing various ideas and talents.

2. After the launching ceremony on March 10, the young public diplomats divided into groups conducted public diplomacy projects. Among their meaningful activities were those of the “Onjeong” team, which held a concert with foreign musicians in the ROK to create common understanding between Koreans and foreigners, and to help them communicate with each other, as well as activities of the “Kit” team, which provided important tips to address difficulties faced by visitors and students from Southeast Asia in their daily lives.

3. They also visited the venues for alpine skiing and ski jumping competitions at the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games next year, as well as a promotion center for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and wished the Olympics a success.

o For one week starting on August 20, the young public diplomats visited the four countries of the Visegrad Group (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland), and engaged in a range of activities to promote the charm of the ROK and the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games among the people of the countries, including running booths to introduce K-pop flash mob dance and Korean cultures, and visiting each county’s National Olympic Committees (NOC).

4. The Foreign Ministry is carrying out a range of public diplomacy programs where Korean people participate for themselves, and will continue to pursue cultural diplomacy using the ROK’s soft power together with the people.


* unofficial translation