- The 15th Friends of Korea started with 53 members from 16 countries

 - Expanding global interest in K-culture through correct understanding of Korean history and tradition

The Korean Culture and Information Service (Director KIM Jang Ho, KOCIS) announced that the 15th Friends of Korea held an inauguration ceremony on April 27 (Thur) at the KOCIS Center (10th floor of the Korean Press Center) and officially started its activities for the year.

Consisting of both Koreans and foreigners, the Friends of Korea is an official supporter group that aims to find and correct errors about Korea in overseas media websites and promote Korean culture, history, and traditions to the world. Since its inception in 2013 with the first group, a total of 550 members (cumulative) have been actively involved in finding and reporting a total of 9,331 errors and conducting various cultural promotion activities online and offline to promote Korea globally. In particular, members found and reported an error in an overseas article that used the “East Sea” for the “Sea of Japan” and corrected it as the “East Sea,” resulting in the amendment of errors related to Korea.

This year, a total of 53 members, consisting of 49 Koreans and 4 foreign nationals aged 18 or above, with knowledge about Korea in general, such as culture and history, and high-level foreign language skills, were selected for the Friends of Korea. They live in 16 countries globally and are expected to engage in a wide range of activities in various regions as they possess different foreign language skills, such as English, Chinese, and Japanese, as well as Serbian and Croatian.[1]

The inauguration ceremony was broadcasted live online with overseas members (23 people) participating. Education on activity content, as well as sharing experiences and know-how from members who have been active in the previous year, were also provided. To facilitate the effective activities of the Friends of Korea, four expert lecture meetings are planned to be held annually.

After the inauguration ceremony, the Friends of Korea will report errors related to Korea through “FACTS: KOREA (www.factsaboutkorea.go.kr),” operated by KOCIS, and actively engage in promoting the country through various social media platforms. Outstanding members will also be awarded commendations and prizes at the end of the year.[2]

YU Joo Chan, a member of the Friends of Korea who was selected for the second consecutive year and currently resides in Argentina, stated, “I am proud to be able to promote Korean culture widely in the local community through Friends of Korea activities as an overseas Korean. This year, I hope to be more active in promoting Korea based on the useful experience gained from last year’s activities.”

“As a child of a multicultural family from Korea and Mongolia, I grew up receiving equal influence from both cultures. I want to leverage this strength to play a bridging role in widely disseminating accurate information related to Korea in Mongolia,” SEO-HAN Sa Rang, a first-time member of the Friends of Korea, also noted.

KOCIS Director KIM said, “I expect that the activities of each Friends of Korea member will serve as precious stepping stones in expanding the interest of people worldwide in K-culture through a correct understanding of Korean history and tradition. I will continue sparing no effort in supporting the Friends of Korea’s plans to introduce Korea to the world.”