Public Diplomacy Week being held at DDP

koreajoongangdaily.joins.com, Oct 31,2018

image (not from article) from

The Korea Foundation is hosting Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis] Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DPP) in eastern Seoul from tomorrow to Saturday to recognize embassies, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations and private entities that share the culture and arts of their homelands.

“Public diplomacy includes both diplomatic efforts by organizations and governments to share their homelands’ culture with citizens abroad, as well as any efforts by ordinary citizens to boost bilateral relations,” said Lee Si-hyung, president of the Korea Foundation in a press conference in central Seoul on Tuesday.

“The term public diplomacy may come across as unfamiliar, but this is more the reason to host such an event for us to share what we have been doing on the public diplomacy front.”

The three-day event at Dongdaemun Design Plaza will kick off with an opening ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, followed by a conference on public diplomacy with Nancy Snow, professor of public diplomacy at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and presentations by various embassies in Seoul, including of Mexico, Ecuador and the European Union, on their public diplomacy programs.

On Friday, a conference on the topic of the role of social media in public diplomacy will be hosted at Dongdaemun Design Plaza from 10 a.m. Later in the afternoon, Alberto Mondi, Italian TV personality and former cast member of JTBC talk show “Non-Summit,” Han Min-su, para ice hockey player, and others will also discuss their experiences representing their country’s culture and values abroad.

On Saturday, the final day of the event, the Korea International Cooperation Agency, Korea Foundation and private organizations working in public diplomacy including Sayul and Future Forest will discuss finding jobs in the public diplomacy sector.

“This program is so far the most popular one, judging by the registrations,” said Ahn Mi-hee, director of the Korea Foundation’s Global Center, in the press conference. “A majority of those who have registered for the event are in their 20s and 30s.”

Every day, there will be concerts and performances by visiting artists and groups, including the award-winning Canadian musician Ori Dagan, Kambarkan Folk Ensemble from Kyrgyzstan and Korea’s Gorilla Crew [JB lettering].

All programs in the Public Diplomacy Week are free, the foundation said.

The foundation was designated by the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the official organization to work on public diplomacy in and out of the country from 2016.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]