A record-high 4,834 people from 122 countries have joined this year’s class of Honorary Reporters to promote Korean culture worldwide. Shown here are the class of 2019 in May that year posing for a commemorative photo after their induction ceremony at Cheong Wa Dae. (Korea.net DB)
By Park Hye Ri and Yoon Hee Young
A record-high number of people worldwide have joined this year’s class of Honorary Reporters, a program sponsored by Korea.net for promoting Korean culture.
The Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), an affiliate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, on May 12 said the 12th class of Honorary Reporters comprises 4,834 members from 122 countries.
Of the 5,714 applicants this year, 4,834 were selected through an evaluation based on resumes, with 410 of those accepted living in Korea and 4,424 being abroad. The number of participating countries rose by 17 last year and that of successful applicants saw a big jump of 1,402.
Among the inductees, 1,544 will write stories in English, 1,104 in Spanish, 745 Arabic, 405 Indonesian, 358 Russian, 254 Vietnamese, 168 French, 161 Chinese, 50 German and 45 Japanese. Egypt had the most applicants (640), followed by Mexico (422), Indonesia (403), India (279) and Vietnam (254).
This year also saw the program’s first members from 17 countries including Latvia, Malawi, Qatar and Estonia, attesting to the surging global popularity of Hallyu (Korean Wave).
Several of this year’s new members have Korea-related experience. Troshkina Anastasiia from Ukraine said she joined to promote taekwondo to the world by writing about the martial art. She is a taekwondo competitor who won the All-Ukrainian Open Cup hosted by the Ukraine Taekwondo Union three times in 2018, 2019 and last year.
Others include Kubra Rendecioglu from Turkey, a Hanbok designer since 2014, and Vu The Anh from Vietnam, a newscaster for five years for his country’s national TV broadcaster VTV.
Starting with their induction ceremony on May 20, the 12th class of Honorary Reporters will begin their one year of activities to deliver information on Korea through articles, photos and videos. Their content will be uploaded on the website and social media of Korea.net, a multilingual government portal that offers articles in nine languages.
KOCIS Director Park Myeongsun said, “Honorary Reporters are promoting Korea’s culture, history and present appearance,” adding, “We will support the activities of Honorary Reporters to get Korea closer to the world.”
hrhr@korea.kr
