Tuesday, 15 March 2011

We sell Korean ‘Jeong’ (정) to the world


Korean corporations, which have been key players in the Korean economy, are now taking a prominent role in nongovernmental diplomacy. The works vary from eradication of poverty and hunger to establishment of schools and libraries. These projects are not the one-off event, but very substantial and specific aid since they involve the interaction with local people and keep providing them with services, which are urgent. Here are some aspects of ‘Affectionate Korea’ in the world.

‘Springtime of my hometown’, a Korean children’s song echoed in Indonesia

A familiar song is heard from Elementary School Menteng in Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesian students sing a Korean children’s song ‘Springtime of my hometown’ to the piano accompaniment. It sounds strange to hear a song sung in Korean at a local school of Indonesia not at Korean schools.



(Photo: Korea Land Daily)

It is because Booyoung Co., Ltd., a construction company of Korea, donated 10,000 digital pianos and 30,000 blackboards to the ministry of education in Indonesia last month. Moreover, Korean ‘Graduation song’ (Lyrics: Yoon Suk-joong, Song: Jeong Soon-chul) is translated into Indonesian and saved in all of the digital piano for the Indonesian students since there is no song for graduation ceremony in some countries of the South East Asia. The song will be played during the graduation ceremony in this June.

In addition, there are popular Korean folksongs and children‘s songs contained in the digital piano. They are recorded in Korean, not in the local languages, and thus the students of Elementary School Menteng could learn not only the songs but also Korean, which contributes to making the music class more interesting.

Booyoung Co., Ltd. has established approximately 600 elementary schools in the South East Asia such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, East Timor, Malaysia and Sri Lanka so far and plans to expand the support into the Philippines, Myanmar, even Australia and New Zealand. Lee Joong-keun, the chairman of Booyoung said “we hope the donation of digital piano could encourage cultural exchanges and promote amity between Korean and Indonesia” and “we will strive to support the educational environment in addition to cultural exchanges so that students could keep pursuing their studies”, he added. The kind-hearted contribution of a company enables children to keep studying and dreaming.


1.5-ton truck conveying ‘Ghanaian children’s dream’

On 11th November 2010 the school of Oduponkpehe in Awutu Senya district, which is approximately 25 km away from Accra, the capital city of Ghana, was in a festive mood from the morning. It was the day when the inaugural ceremony of the children’s library and mobile library for children in rural areas was held.

The library of the school of Oduponkpehe renovated from the 82.5㎡ interior has about 3,500 books including children’s books, reference books for English, mathematics, and computer.




In the urban areas of Ghana the standard of living is generally good and the accessibility to library is quite easy while in the rural areas the book distribution rate is very low due to the poor condition of road and transportation on top of a small number of libraries. The mobile library system is introduced to resolve this problem and the library of the school of Oduponkpehe will take a pivotal role in the system. The mobile library remodelled from a 1.5-ton truck will visit 24 schools in the rural areas including Koforidua and Kumasi as well as the capital city, Accra and provide service for 27,000 children from low-income families. Not only does it lend books but also organises various programmes such as book report contest.

Establishment of the children’s library and mobile library in Ghana is a part of the global contribution projects carried out by a Korean company, STX Corporation. STX Corporation is leading to cultivate talented international students through establishing libraries for children from multi-cultural families in Korea, and awarding a scholarship of 3 million Chinese yuan to honour students from 5 universities in 3 provinces of Northeast China. STX Corporation hopes to contribute to the long-term advancement of Korea by means of education.


Have you heard of ‘Lotte School’?




Lotte Department Store has transformed Son Ky middle school in the remote area of Vietnam after the 15-month renovation work. That is why the villagers call it ‘Lotte School’.

Hyundai Motor is promoting an environmental project, ‘Hyundai Green Zone’, which aims for reforestation of desert areas in China. The first target is Chakanor area within the Kunshantag desert in Inner Mongolia, China. The area is gradually losing pasture and turning into the salt desert due to desertification and strong alkaline soil. To prevent this process, Hyundai Motor plans to create a large scale of grassland by 2012, seeding indigenous plants that grow well on the alkaline soil.

Korean corporations would like to be a sincere friend to the world, delivering heart-warming ‘Jeong’ through their international Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
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ⓒ코리아브랜드

Kim Nam-Joo, Throws Herself into ‘Concept Korea' with Enthusiasm


 The third Concept Korea will be held at the David Rubenstein Atrium, Lincoln Center, New York on the coming 15th (local time). The event takes place during the New York Fashion Week season featuring four groups of designers from Korea sponsored by the Korean government to represent the exceptional fashions of Korea. As an upgraded version of the past two Concept Koreas, this time a wide range of additional events supporting promotion will be offered.

New York Fashion Week is one of the four major international fashion collections leading the world fashion industry. It is more a commercial-oriented fashion show, featuring merchandisable fashion to lead the market than boldly experimenting with trends. This year the week runs from February 10th to 17th at the Lincoln Center; and ‘CONCEPT KOREA, Cultural Treasures 2011’ brings the fashion designs of Korea to the international stage, where all leading figures of the fashion market gather to enjoy the season. The project, accompanying various promotional marketing activities, is sponsored by the Republic of Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), Daegu Metropolitan City, the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), and the Korean Research Institute for Fashion Industry (KRIFI) to advance the Korean fashion industry into the world market.

(photo: Naver blog)

When such efforts can successfully support Korean designers to create global brands joining the international fashion market with other world-renowned labels, the national competitiveness of Korea can be enhanced while acknowledged for its original fashion trends. Promotion is necessary for those talented designers to join the market; however it is difficult for many full-time designers to put much effort into marketing and promotion. Thus with support from government and private sectors, the Korean fashion can move a step closer to win more opportunities introducing its original trend of fashion to the world.


Indigo blue spreads into New York

Lie Sang Bong, and DO HO (from left to right)>

This year’s theme for Concept Korea is ‘Cultural Treasures,’ planning to feature designs inspired by traditional Korean cultures by four designer groups, DO HO, Lie Snag Bong, Steve J & Yoni P and Choi Bum Suk. The profound and mysterious indigo blue of the celadon porcelain will be transferred to the garments and the showroom portraying the graceful sensibilities of Korea. The indigo of the celadon may enchant the eyes of the West with its elegant and sophisticated beauty from the East, Korea.

The designers have prepared about forty pieces of work for the collection and the Concept Korea staffs prepared additional events to better promote Korean culture. This was planned from feedbacks on the past two Concept Koreas, which did not fully explore the resources and opportunities ending the event with a single show.

(photo: Naver blog)

After the forty-minute length fashion show, a list of interesting events with reception introducing Korean food, music, performance, and IT is held. Visitors can relax and get better understandings on Korea while enjoying fusion Korean food provided as part of the ‘Taste of Korea’ project led by the Korean Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. An internationally recognized chef Tom Colicchio has prepared a special fusion Korean dish and makgeolli (Korean rice wine) for this occasion expected to attract more attention from the Western people.


Reaching out for new business opportunities

As the primary mission of the event is for the Korean fashion industry to enter the global market, a room showcasing the collections for potential business partners was arranged. In Chelsea Meatpacking district a public showroom was set up for ten days starting from February 14th to 23rd. Here the four designer groups from Korea shows each fifty pieces of their design welcoming foreign buyers. Especially, bringing Korea’s IT technology to the space, the showroom is ready to surprise the visitors and buyers from the entrance spot winning local attention among other designers participating the New York Fashion Week.


National and international promotion is a significant key to win success paying back the long efforts put into. Kim Nam-Joo, the Korean fashion icon celebrity was commissioned as honorary ambassador for Concept Korea Ⅲ and fashion magazines including Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and influential American presses such as CNN, New York Times, New York Daily News will report the third Concept Korea stage.


Smart Phone applications providing information on Concept Korea Ⅲ will be distributed and SNS marketing will be actively developed. Twitter and Facebook contents (serviced in English) and appointed fashion reporters will introduce the New York fashion week agenda, events and selected designers followed by additional services. Thanks to such supports you would be well informed about the show without a need to fly to New York.

Let’s hope the fashion show to end as a great success promoting talented Korean designers on world stage and further work as a stepping stone for the Korean fashion industry advancing into the international market.

Kim Nam-Joo, Throws Herself into ‘Concept Korea' with Enthusiasm


 The third Concept Korea will be held at the David Rubenstein Atrium, Lincoln Center, New York on the coming 15th (local time). The event takes place during the New York Fashion Week season featuring four groups of designers from Korea sponsored by the Korean government to represent the exceptional fashions of Korea. As an upgraded version of the past two Concept Koreas, this time a wide range of additional events supporting promotion will be offered.

New York Fashion Week is one of the four major international fashion collections leading the world fashion industry. It is more a commercial-oriented fashion show, featuring merchandisable fashion to lead the market than boldly experimenting with trends. This year the week runs from February 10th to 17th at the Lincoln Center; and ‘CONCEPT KOREA, Cultural Treasures 2011’ brings the fashion designs of Korea to the international stage, where all leading figures of the fashion market gather to enjoy the season. The project, accompanying various promotional marketing activities, is sponsored by the Republic of Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), Daegu Metropolitan City, the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), and the Korean Research Institute for Fashion Industry (KRIFI) to advance the Korean fashion industry into the world market.

(photo: Naver blog)

When such efforts can successfully support Korean designers to create global brands joining the international fashion market with other world-renowned labels, the national competitiveness of Korea can be enhanced while acknowledged for its original fashion trends. Promotion is necessary for those talented designers to join the market; however it is difficult for many full-time designers to put much effort into marketing and promotion. Thus with support from government and private sectors, the Korean fashion can move a step closer to win more opportunities introducing its original trend of fashion to the world.


Indigo blue spreads into New York

Lie Sang Bong, and DO HO (from left to right)>

This year’s theme for Concept Korea is ‘Cultural Treasures,’ planning to feature designs inspired by traditional Korean cultures by four designer groups, DO HO, Lie Snag Bong, Steve J & Yoni P and Choi Bum Suk. The profound and mysterious indigo blue of the celadon porcelain will be transferred to the garments and the showroom portraying the graceful sensibilities of Korea. The indigo of the celadon may enchant the eyes of the West with its elegant and sophisticated beauty from the East, Korea.

The designers have prepared about forty pieces of work for the collection and the Concept Korea staffs prepared additional events to better promote Korean culture. This was planned from feedbacks on the past two Concept Koreas, which did not fully explore the resources and opportunities ending the event with a single show.

(photo: Naver blog)

After the forty-minute length fashion show, a list of interesting events with reception introducing Korean food, music, performance, and IT is held. Visitors can relax and get better understandings on Korea while enjoying fusion Korean food provided as part of the ‘Taste of Korea’ project led by the Korean Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. An internationally recognized chef Tom Colicchio has prepared a special fusion Korean dish and makgeolli (Korean rice wine) for this occasion expected to attract more attention from the Western people.


Reaching out for new business opportunities

As the primary mission of the event is for the Korean fashion industry to enter the global market, a room showcasing the collections for potential business partners was arranged. In Chelsea Meatpacking district a public showroom was set up for ten days starting from February 14th to 23rd. Here the four designer groups from Korea shows each fifty pieces of their design welcoming foreign buyers. Especially, bringing Korea’s IT technology to the space, the showroom is ready to surprise the visitors and buyers from the entrance spot winning local attention among other designers participating the New York Fashion Week.


National and international promotion is a significant key to win success paying back the long efforts put into. Kim Nam-Joo, the Korean fashion icon celebrity was commissioned as honorary ambassador for Concept Korea Ⅲ and fashion magazines including Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and influential American presses such as CNN, New York Times, New York Daily News will report the third Concept Korea stage.


Smart Phone applications providing information on Concept Korea Ⅲ will be distributed and SNS marketing will be actively developed. Twitter and Facebook contents (serviced in English) and appointed fashion reporters will introduce the New York fashion week agenda, events and selected designers followed by additional services. Thanks to such supports you would be well informed about the show without a need to fly to New York.

Let’s hope the fashion show to end as a great success promoting talented Korean designers on world stage and further work as a stepping stone for the Korean fashion industry advancing into the international market.

Friday, 25 February 2011

Korean History and Political Geography


Koreans often use the proverb “when whales fight, the shrimp’s back is broken” to describe their country’s victimization at the hands of larger, more powerful neighbors. China, as the largest and most technologically and culturally advanced society in East Asia, exerted the most important outside influence on Korea until modern times. In the twentieth century, Korea became the focus of rival interests among neighboring China, Japan, and Russia as well as the more distant United States. But for well over a thousand years, until colonization by Japan in the early twentieth century, successive kingdoms on the Korean peninsula were able to maintain a society with political independence and cultural distinctiveness from the surrounding nations.

Korea Before the Twentieth Century 
Settled, literate societies on the Korean peninsula appear in Chinese records as early as the fourth century BCE. Gradually, competing groups and kingdoms on the peninsula merged into a common national identity. After a period of conflict among the “Three Kingdoms”—Koguryo in the north, Paekche in the southwest, and Silla in the southeast—Silla defeated its rivals and unified most of the Korean peninsula in 668 CE. Korea reached close to its present boundaries during the Koryo Dynasty (918-1392), from which its Western name “Korea” is derived. The succeeding Choson Dynasty (1392-1910) further consolidated Korea’s national boundaries and distinctive cultural practices.

Within Korea there are some regional differences expressed in dialect and customs, but on the whole regional differences are far outweighed by an overall cultural homogeneity. Unlike China, for example, regional dialects in Korea are mutually intelligible to all Korean speakers. The Korean language is quite distinct from Chinese and in fact structurally similar to Japanese, although there is still debate among linguists about how the Korean and Japanese languages may be related. Many customs, popular art forms, and religious practices in traditional Korea are also quite distinct from either Chinese or Japanese practices, even though the Korean forms sometimes resemble those of Korea’s neighbors in East Asia and have common roots.

Traditional Korea borrowed much of its high culture from China, including the use of Chinese characters in the written language and the adoption of Neo-Confucianism as the philosophy of the ruling elite. Buddhism, originally from India, also came to Korea from China, and from Korea spread to Japan. For many centuries Korea was a member of the Chinese “tribute system,” giving regular gifts to the Chinese court and acknowledging the titular superiority of the Chinese emperor over the Korean king. But while symbolically dependent on China for military protection and political legitimization, in practice Korea was quite independent in its internal behavior.

After devastating invasions by the Japanese at the end of the sixteenth century and by the Manchus of Northeast Asia in the early seventeenth, Korea enforced a policy of strictly limited contact with all other countries. The main foreign contacts officially sanctioned by the Choson Dynasty were diplomatic missions to China three or four times a year and a small outpost of Japanese merchants in the southeastern part of Korea near the present-day city of Pusan. Few Koreans left the peninsula during the late Choson Dynasty, and even fewer foreigners entered. For some 250 years Korea was at peace and internally stable (despite growing peasant unrest from about 1800), but from the perspective of the Europeans and Americans who encountered Korea in the nineteenth century, Korea was an abnormally isolated country, a “hermit kingdom” as it came to be known to Westerners at the time.

Japanese Colonial Period During the latter half of the nineteenth century, Korea became the object of competing imperial interests as the Chinese empire declined and Western powers began to vie for ascendancy in East Asia. Britain, France, and the United States each attempted to “open up” Korea to trade and diplomatic relations in the 1860s, but the Korean kingdom steadfastly resisted. It took Japan, itself only recently opened to Western-style international relations by the United States, to impose a diplomatic treaty on Korea for the first time in 1876.

Japan, China, and Russia were the main rivals for influence on Korea in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and after defeating China and Russia in war between 1895 and 1905, Japan became the predominant power on the Korean peninsula. In 1910 Japan annexed Korea outright as a colony, and for the next 35 years Japan ruled Korea in a manner that was strict and often brutal. Toward the end of the colonial period, the Japanese authorities tried to wipe out Korea’s language and cultural identity and make Koreans culturally Japanese, going so far in 1939 as to compel Koreans to change their names to Japanese ones. However, Japan also brought the beginnings of industrial development to Korea. Modern industries such as steel, cement, and chemical plants were set up in Korea during the 1920s and 1930s, especially in the northern part of the peninsula where coal and hydroelectric power resources were abundant. By the time Japanese colonial rule ended in August 1945, Korea was the second most industrialized country in Asia after Japan itself.

Divided Korea and the Korean War 
The surrender of Japan to the allies at the end of World War II resulted in a new and unexpected development on the Korean peninsula: the division of Korea into two separate states, one in the North (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, D.P.R.K.) and one in the South (the Republic of Korea, R.O.K.). In the final days of the war, the United States and the Soviet Union had agreed to jointly accept the Japanese surrender in Korea, with the U.S.S.R. occupying Korea north of the 38th parallel and the U.S. occupying south until an independent and unified Korean government could be established. However, by 1947, the emerging Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, combined with political differences between Koreans of the two occupation zones and the policies of the occupation forces on the ground, led to a breakdown in negotiations over a unified government of Korea.

On August 15, 1948, a pro-U.S. government was established in Seoul, and three weeks later a pro-Soviet government in Pyongyang. Both governments claimed to legitimately represent the entire Korean people, creating a situation of extreme tension across the 38th parallel. On June 25, 1950, North Korea, backed by the U.S.S.R., invaded the South and attempted to unify the peninsula by force. Under the flag of the United Nations, a U.S.-led coalition of countries came to the assistance of South Korea. The Soviet Union backed North Korea with weapons and air support, while the People’s Republic of China intervened on the side of North Korea with hundreds of thousands of combat troops. In July 1953, after millions of deaths and enormous physical destruction, the war ended approximately were it began, with North and South Korea divided into roughly equal territories by the cease-fire line, a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that still forms the boundary between North and South Korea today.

The Two Koreas
Since 1953, North and South Korea have evolved from a common cultural and historical base into two very different societies with radically dissimilar political and economic systems. The differences between North and South Korea today have little to do with pre-1945 regional differences between northern and southern Korea. North Korea has been heavily influenced by Soviet/Russian culture and politics as well as those of China. It has developed a self-styled politics of juche (“self-reliance”) based on economic and political independence, having a highly centralized political system with a “Great Leader” at its apex (Kim Il Sung until his death in 1994, his son Kim Jong Il since then) and a command economy. North Korea developed into perhaps the most isolated and controlled of all communist states, and even 10 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, showed little sign of political and economic liberalization despite severe economic hardship.

South Korea, on the other hand, has been greatly influenced by the United States and, in a more subtle way, by Japan. The U.S. has maintained close political, military, and economic ties with South Korea since the R.O.K. was founded in 1948. While South Korea has often been less democratic than Americans would like or the Korean leaders claimed it to be, since the fall of its military dictatorship in the late 1980s democracy appears to have become increasingly consolidated in the R.O.K. Meanwhile, South Korea made impressive economic gains in the 1970s and 1980s and can be considered now among the world’s developed industrial countries. South Korea recovered rapidly from the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and is currently the third-largest economy in Eastern Asia, after Japan and China.

As in many other countries, American popular culture is an important presence in South Korea. To a lesser extent, Japanese popular culture is influential as well. However, South Korea has developed its own distinctly Korean forms of popular culture, while traditional Korean culture has undergone something of a revival in recent decades. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, South Korean pop music, film, and television dramas were becoming quite popular in other parts of Asia too, especially China and Vietnam.

Despite the general cultural homogeneity of Korea, regional sentiment has become an important factor in South Korean politics and in other areas of contemporary life. The main regional division is between the Cholla area of the southwest and the Kyongsang area of the southeast. Although some would claim that these regional differences go back to the ancient Three Kingdoms period, in fact modern South Korean regionalism is mostly a phenomenon originating in the rapid industrialization that began in the 1960s. At that time, President Park Chung Hee focused on the economic development of his home region of Kyongsang, and drew much of South Korea’s leadership from there. This bias toward Kyongsang continued through the succeeding presidencies of Chun Doo Hwan, Roh Tae Woo, and Kim Young Sam, who were all from the region. Meanwhile, Cholla remained relatively backward and was seen as a place of dissenters, including long-time opposition figure Kim Dae Jung. As a consequence, voting patterns in South Korea have shown overwhelming favoritism toward candidates from the voters’ home region. After Kim Dae Jung became president in 1998, he attempted to bring more regional balance to economic and political development in South Korea, but regional identification and prejudice remain strong.

The division of Korea into North and South was imposed upon the Korean people by outside forces, and many if not most Koreans insist that the two Koreas must one day be reunited. In the early 1970s, mid-1980s, and early 1990s, the two Koreas appeared to be reaching breakthroughs in inter-Korean relations, but each movement toward reconciliation and reunification ended in frustration. Finally, in June 2000, the leaders of North and South Korea met in Pyongyang, in the North, to discuss improving North-South relations. This was the first time such a summit meeting had ever taken place, and the event once again raised expectations of reconciliation and eventual reunion between the two halves of the divided peninsula. However, there is still very little contact between the governments or the people of North and South Korea, and barring a dramatic turn of events, the hope for reunification appears to be a long way off.

The Korean Diaspora 

In addition to the 46 million people in South Korea and 23 million in the North, some 6 to 7 million people of Korean descent, or approximately 10 percent of the population of the two Koreas combined, live outside the Korean peninsula. In proportion to the population of the home country, the Korean “diaspora” comprises one of the largest groups of emigrants from anywhere in Asia. The largest communities of overseas Koreans are in China (two million), the United States (over one million), Japan (700,000), and the former Soviet Union (450,000), mostly in the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The Korean diaspora is distinctive both for its relative size and the fact that it is almost entirely a twentieth-century phenomenon, with the exception of Koreans in China and Russia, who began to immigrate there in large numbers in the 1860s. There were no Koreans in U.S. territory until after 1900, and most Koreans in Japan today are, or are descendants of, immigrants who came during the colonial occupation period of 1910-1945.

Koreans were first brought to Hawaii in 1903 as workers in the sugarcane fields. Later, Koreans settled increasingly on the U.S. mainland, especially in Southern California. Koreans in the U.S. still numbered only in the few tens of thousands until after 1965, when restrictions on immigration from Asia were relaxed. By the 1980s, Koreans were among the most rapidly growing groups of immigrants to the United States. Immigration from Korea leveled off after 1988 and began to decline in the early 1990s, but increased slightly again after the Asian financial crisis hit South Korea in 1997. The main concentrations of Koreans in the U.S. are in the Los Angeles area, New York, and Chicago.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, South Korea is among the major industrialized nations of the world and is widely recognized as a success in economic development and political democratization. South Korea has evolved remarkably from the poor, backward country that emerged from the shadows of Japanese colonial rule in 1945. It is also a country with a strong sense of national identity and great pride in its culture, traditions, and accomplishments. At the same time, Korea remains divided into North and South, with nearly two million men under arms on the peninsula and a high state of military tension. As it has for more than a century, Korea occupies a strategic place on the world map, and any conflict on the peninsula would have the potential to draw in neighboring countries, if not farther. Korea may no longer be a “shrimp,” but the waters it swims in are not yet entirely safe.Source: Asia Society, Charles K. Armstrong.

Friday, 18 February 2011

Main Events of this Month

1. A New Start, Daboreum (the year’s first full moon) Festival 
http://www.nfm.go.kr/Inform/ninfor_view.nfm?seq=14381 
Experience the seasonal customs of Daeborrum, a traditional Korean holiday and enjoy folk performance shows

Date : Feb 17, Thurs (10:00~17:00)
Venue : Front Yard (Main bldg), The National Folk Museum of Korea, Jongno, Seoul

2. 2011 National Gugak Center First Full Moon Festival “Ttwil-pan (jumping), Nol-pan (playing), and Han-pan making happy” 

http://www.gugak.go.kr/performance/performance/information/perf_viw.jsp?boardId=30004065 

Enjoy the First Full Moon Festival with National Gugak Center

Date : Feb 16, Wed ~ Feb 17, Thurs (19:30)
Venue : Yeakdang & Front yard, National Gugak Center

* The event is free but requires an advance reservation www.gugak.go.kr 

Korean Mushrooms Occupies the Tables of the Swiss

The superior species and high production quality of Korean mushroom is proved through its great texture and taste, already having been renown overseas. Today Korean mushrooms have attracted the Swiss people being one of their favorite dishes.





Korean mushrooms spotlighted as high-quality food

Jelomli, a grand department store of Zurich, the largest city in Swiss has Korean mushrooms on their sales list, sold at the lower ground grocery section, along with a variety of other raw mushrooms. Here Korean king oyster mushrooms are sold by 30-40 franc per kilogram, quite expensive which is equivalent to 35,000 ~ 47,000 won in Korean dollars.

Swiss people, on sunny days, often enjoy barbeque parties with their family and friends sharing grilled meat and sausages, and the Korean king oyster mushrooms as the only vegetable to be added on the main grill list. Taken as a high-quality food item, the king oyster mushrooms are enjoyed for its bigger size and thick texture that is much suitable for a grill party compared to button mushrooms.

In Swiss, now it is not that difficult to meet these mushrooms from Korea in Swiss as they are not only supplied to department stores but also to Migros, the largest supermarket franchise in Swiss.

a Swiss restaurant in Itaewon, Korea> (Photo: Naver blog)

In Swiss, mushrooms are widely enjoyed by the people being one of the most popular food often used as an ingredient for sauces or even as main dishes. Regarding the sales of button mushrooms the amount of its consumption are 13,000 tons annually; 8,000 tons of raw mushrooms and 5,000 tons of cooked mushrooms. Here 7,000 tons of raw mushrooms are produced in Swiss and the import! rate of the total market consists of 15 percent. The Swiss people do seem to favor mushrooms a lot!


Cannot imagine a life without mushrooms!
  The Swiss people in love with mushrooms

Even the economic crisis did not stop the Swiss fondness for mushrooms. In the second half of 2008 when the economic situation was not favorable, consumers did not cease to spend money on mushrooms. In 2009, rather the total consumption increased adding 300 tons compared to the former year. In fact, the fastidious Swiss customers looking for the best qualities seem to continuously increase the needs for fresh mushrooms.


Button mushroom is the most largely produced and consumed one in Swiss, which is a very traditional kind. However, Asian kinds started to receive attention along with the rising popularity of foreign mushroom species. These days foreign mushrooms that have been introduced during the 1980~1990s including shiitake, king oyster mushroom, grifola frondosa are now receiving some spotlight. Especially shiitake is enjoying popularity being ranked second in the consumer preference.

It may be no surprise that Korean mushrooms with high quality and taste has successfully created its market in Swiss. It had past 3~4 years since Korean king oyster mushrooms joined the dishes of the Swiss dining table.

Now the annual amount of mushroom import!s are over two hundred million Korean won. This was possible by both continuous efforts put to improving species and through quality control.

In 2009 renowned chefs from all over the world have visited Korea to participate in the ‘Amazing Korean Table,’ and Korean mushroom was used by all chefs. A variety of mushrooms were grilled or slightly boiled to be used as ingredients or become the main dish itself.

The taste and flavor of Korea mushrooms seems to prove its real worth no matter where it is. As the Swiss fondness for mushroom continues the future of the Korean mushroom overseas market is expected to be positive; we hope to create a broader international market, in addition to Swiss, for all consumers who want high quality mushrooms.

The Medical Service Project Shares New Life and Hope!



Do you know much about the congenital heart disease? The disease is due to abnormal heart development before birth that requires postnatal medical treatment. It may lead to premature death if no appropriate surgery is operated, however a successful surgery can grant a new healthy life to a child.

Regrettably, there are many people who are in need of medical surgery but not all receive the opportune treatment. The high costs and lack of professional medical hospitals are doubling the burden. Fortunately, movements of medical support for the global neighborhood have been started, the ‘Korea Medical Service Share Project’ being one of them.

The Korean government financially supports children of neighboring undeveloped regions suffering from the lack of medical facilities by paying all expenses on their visit to Korea for medical treatment; Private medical institutions support the medical expenses by offering voluntary surgical operations. This year’s first patient is Danilya, a young boy from Russia.


A new life to a six-year-boy Danilya

The level of medical treatment of Korea is well recognized on the international level. The number of foreigners visiting Korea for medical surgery or treatment is increasing and every year new surgery method of Korea and its successful cases are introduced overseas.

The Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare has developed a project to position Korea as a global healthcare leader and promote voluntary services overseas.

The project is significant for being a public-private collaboration case while the Korean government provides financial aids covering flight fees and expenses during the stay and medical institutions covers the medical expenses. This year’s budget is 250,000,000 Korean won, which will be used to cure fifteen patients from the neighbors of Korea including China, Russia, Kazakhstan and so on.

Danilya, a six-year-old boy from Havarovsk, Russia was the first patient to meet the Korea Medical Service Share Project. Danilya was diagnosed as congenial heart disease and ventricular septal defect however the family could not afford a surgery and in fact no hospitals specializing in heart disease could be found near the village. It was grateful to receive Irina’s - the mother’s joy and appreciation when she heard the good news from Korea about the medical and financial support.

Sejong Hospital, specializing in heart disease, was responsible for the young boy’s surgery this time. The hospital has conducted about 900 free medical operations for children from twenty nations including Russia, China, Vietnam, and Iraq for the last twenty-nine years bringing new life to them. The hospital explains that it is time for Korea to give back the help it has received from their neighbors in the past and this medical service project could be one example of it.


Sharing the advanced medical technology of Korea with Russia

conducted by Korean surgeons at major Hospitals of Korea>

The operation process of Danilya was covered by RTR, the Russian public broadcasting media and will be broadcasted across Russia in March. ‘Pulse,’ RTR’s self-produced medical documentary program that usually deals with new trends in the medical field e.g. modern medical science, diagnosis and diverse diseases, and new medical treatments, will feature the story on Danilya in three parts. This may as well be a good opportunity for Korea to introduce its advanced medical technology.

In fact, RTR did not only take report of Danilya’s surgery but also covered the current medical technology for cancer, cardiac and vascular diseases, oriental medicine, brain and spine treatment of Korea in depth, introducing the excellence of Korean medical technology.

to a patient that will work as a real arm> (photo: The Joongang Daily)

The Korea Medical Service Share Project will actively continue to support the young patients of China, Kazakhstan and so on. ‘Medical Korea,’ a medical institution to operate free surgery, will be established and promoted through the local media. ‘Global Medical Service Share Corps’ program supported by Hanlyu celebrities will be carried out as well. We expect the project would gradually expand its activity reaching out to more regions and covering more diseases to be cured.

The project embraces the idea of coexistence and the global community. It is grateful for both, Korea who can be help and its neighbors who calls for help – the young children suffering from illness, and the parents who need support to afford medical treatment. A better global community can be upheld by being help for those who need a hand, and this project can be one way to practice the idea. We hope to see more medical institutions willing to donate their excellence in medical technology to bring new lives to our neighbors.

कोरियाई प्रायद्वीप का बदलता भू-राजनीतिक परिदृश्य

 कोरियाई प्रायद्वीप पर उत्तर और दक्षिण कोरिया के संबंधों की वर्तमान स्थिति एक नए युग की भू-राजनीतिक प्रतिस्पर्धा का प्रतीक है। यह बदलाव वैश्...