Gwangju International Center

Gwangju International Center, KOICA Fellowship Program Begins in Full Swing  From July 14 to 27, the Gwangju International Center will host the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Fellowship Program, "Capacity Building Training on Human Rights Administration for Local Governments in Asia", for 14 government officials from five Asian countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan). If you want to read a news about this program, visit the GIC website.   The KOICA's Fellowship Program, “Capacity Building for Local Governments on Human Rights Administration Enhancement Education in Asia,” aims to provide various learning and experiences through a combination of lectures and field trips over two weeks. The the goal is to deepen the understanding of human rights and building a human rights-friendly culture within the organization.   The program kicked off with an welcoming ceremony at KOICA International Cooperation Center (in Seongnam) on July 15, followed by a luncheon and orientation.   The upcoming lectures will be delivered by experts from both domestic and international organizations. Speakers will include Pradeep Wagre, Chief of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Section at UN OHCHR, Garance Sarat, Gender Equality Project Officer at UNESCO; Morten Kjaerum, Adjunct Professor at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law; and JUNG Ho Moon, Administrative Officer of the International Human Rights Division at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, These experts will share human rights mechanisms, concrete measures, and best practices for embedding a human rights-friendly culture in organizations. The trainees will listen to the lectures and participate in an activity where they will create a list of action points to apply in their own organizations.   In addition, trainees will have the opportunity to strengthen their personal capabilities through practical experiences, such as visiting Gwangju, a city of human rights, in the second week of the program. They will tour the historical sites of the May 18 Democratization Movement, meet with officials from human rights-related ministries in Gwangju, and hear and see real-life examples of their operations.   The KOICA Fellowship Program, “Capacity Building for Local Governments on Human Rights Administration Enhancement Education in Asia,” will be hosted by the Gwangju International Center for three years starting this year.

Gwangju International Center Selected for KOICA's Fellowship Program (CIAT)    Gwangju International Center (GIC) has been selected as a training institution for the 'Capacity Building for Local Governments on Human Rights Administration' project in the selection of government-proposed projects under the 2024 Fellowship Program by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and will conduct a three-year training program, from 2024 to 2026, for government officials from five Asian countries.   KOICA’s Fellowship Program (CIAT: Capacity Improvement & Advancement for Tomorrow) is a human resource development (HRD) training program for government officials, engineers, researchers, and policymakers from developing countries with the aim of strengthening the capacity of talented individuals who will lead the economic and social growth of developing countries by sharing the unique experiences of Korea’s development process and technology.   This year’s training is aimed at high-level officials from Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan) who are in charge of the departments dealing with human rights administration or vulnerable groups. It will provide various training opportunities to deepen the trainees’ understanding of human rights and build a human rights-friendly organizational culture within their institutions.   Over the course of two weeks, through various activities such as human rights education, field trips, and extracurricular activities, the program will provide a variety of learning and experiences to complement the theoretical lectures. These include examining the cases of human rights administration in Gwangju, visiting the historical sites of the Gwangju May 18 Democratization Movement, and visiting ministries and organizations related to human rights in Gwangju.   The training is expected to enhance the trainees' understanding and academic performance through a combination of online pre-training and face-to-face training by inviting them to Gwangju. Furthermore, it is expected that cooperation with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) will further enhance the professional aspect of the project.   The program will provide an opportunity to establish mid- and long-term goals and guidelines for strengthening human rights administration capacities through feedback and revisions of the action plan that is to be implemented in practice.   Gwangju International Center was selected for the same project in 2020 and successfully conducted the 'Human Rights Education Training Program for Sustainable and Inclusive Communities' with Kenyan government officials by the year 2022. The project was highly evaluated by KOICA for its 'excellent preparation and operation of the training program, academic achievements, and high level ofsatisfaction about the training'.

"Multilateral Diplomacy and the New Challenges of the World" Writer: Jana Milosavljević      After an almost four months long break caused by COVID-19 related safety regulations, GIC Talk finally restarted last Saturday, April 17th, and on this joyous occasion GIC had the honor to have Mr. Yoon Yeocheol, Ambassador for International Relations at Gwangju Metropolitan City as a guest speaker. The Ambassador’s Talk titled “Multilateral Diplomacy and the New Challenges of the World” was held online, through Zoom Meetings.  Mr. Shin Gyonggu, the Executive Director of GIC started the meeting and greeted the participants and the Ambassador himself. Following the greeting, Ambassador Yoon began his lecture with a brief introduction of his 37-years-long career with the Korean foreign ministry. The highlights of his career include being the Protocol Secretary to the President of Korea from February 2016 to May 2017, acting as an Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Arab Republic of Egypt from February 2018 until June 2020, as well as his current position as the Ambassador for International Relations at Gwangju Metropolitan City. Even though he jokingly referred to himself as “Jack of all trades, but master of none” as the famous saying goes, throughout the Talk every participant could unmistakably see that Mr. Yoon’s experience is extensive and invaluable, and that he is definitely “the master of the trade”. Mr. Yoon then continued to explain the definition of diplomacy as “the execution of one state’s foreign policy to manage that state’s relations with other states”. He illustrated the role of a diplomat, followed by clarifying the term ‘bilateral diplomacy’, and then analyzing the ‘multilateral diplomacy’ itself through its two definitions, especially focusing on the multilateral diplomacy in the modern sense. The 45-minute lecture was a walk through history of the world, intertwined with the history of diplomacy, its evolution and changes. Mr. Yoon managed to explain the crucial historical points that molded diplomacy into the praxis it is today, while perfectly balancing the tone of the lecture between serious political talk and a presentation even those without a background in politics can easily follow, demonstrating all the qualities a diplomat should possess. The last part of the Talk was reserved for the Q&A, and the Ambassador’s communication with the audience. Mr. Shin himself was the first one to pose a very simple, but crucial question “Why did you choose to be a diplomat?”. Mr. Yoon replied that it was a childhood dream and added that the sense of fulfillment and the experiences he has obtained he finds most valuable. Other questions included “How do you define being a successful diplomat?” and “Could you share a fun episode from your years of service?”, as well as a more serious question asking for Ambassador Yoon’s opinion on the UN’s role in the recent Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, and questions about some practical advice on how to contribute to strengthening the relations between one’s own country and Korea.  The Talk was concluded with Mr. Yoon’s promise that he would come back to discuss more related topics if he got the chance. His final message to the participants of the Talk was to always try to be the bridge connecting countries, people, and cultures in as many ways as possible, and continue to help in bringing mutual understanding as they already are through organizing and participating in events such as the GIC Talk. 

 Chosun University Hospital, Referral Service Center has donated 120 pieces of KF80 masks and 150 hand sanitizers for our international residents in Gwangju. Gwangju International Center offers disposable masks for foreign visitors every Saturday and Sunday from 2pm to 5pm.Ten disposable masks, one KF80 mask and one hand sanitizer will be provided until out of stock to any foreigner who visits GIC during the campaign.

 ▶Date: September 28, 2019▶Title : “Be the Change Project: Judgments”▶Speaker: Dana Han▶Reviewer: PARK Hajin (GIC Teenage Volunteer)   Judgment is influenced by what is right, what is good, and what should be done. The presenter also worked on ‘change project’ since March of 2019. I talked with audience around me, about ‘when I judge’, ‘When I was judged’, and ‘When I heard what was judged’. While I was talking with people, one of my group members mentioned that it would be unpleasant to be judged. And another member commented that he would feel bad about the judgment in appearance, but he would try to accept if it really needed to fix. I could see various ideas from each individual and most people expressed discomfort, confusion, and anger. After some sharing of ideas, presenter asked about the purpose and the goal of judgments. I was very confused about the question but then I could present three ways of dealing with judgment after the presenter spoke that ‘we are judged to keep ourselves safe’. and she continued by showing some methods of how to deal with judgement as below: First, just express them, share 'honestly'.Second, judge ourselves and other for having judgments. (It means that try to ignore them or dispose of them) Third, welcome the wisdom of our judgments. Judgments hold inside of our path to discovering our values, desires, and hopes. Suppressing judgments out would be like throwing a rough diamond away. After the workshop, I decided to accept judgment about myself and also not to judge others without consideration. I am sure the lecture would effect a lot to me in the future.

 ▶Date: September 21, 2019▶Title: “Jane Austen: An Unexpected Life”▶Speaker: Rachel Brown St.John▶Review: Cathy Tripp (GIC Volunteer)   “Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one but she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody.'' —Jane Austen   Jane Austen is known to be one of the leading female authors of her time—a reality that still rings true to this day. Not only did she start writing novels at a time when first and foremost, few women published at all—let alone under their own name—but Austen successfully put pen to paper, etching her name into her books during a time of great transition in the history of English literature. Today, Jane Austen is widely known for her cultural presence and unwavering spot in American literature. From her roots as the youngest of seven children—having grown up with her six brothers and the frequently circulating boarders at her family’s home in a small rural village in England—this self-proclaimed tomboy grew into a curious, eloquent and incredibly successful author. Although many stipulate that Austen grew up in a bubble, unaware of the happenings in the world beyond her knowledge, we know that this is far from the truth. Thanks to the fervent encouragement of her family and her close friends to explore beyond the boundaries of the life she knew and the world of literature, Austen grew into herself and her place in the world— becoming the author we know her to be today thanks to the vastly diverse collection of people and ideas that she had access to. It was the people in Austen’s life that fueled her fervor for writing and continued to inspire new stories. People like Austen’s close friend and confidant Anne Lefroy, her cousin Eliza de Feuillde, and even her brothers Henry and James. Furthermore, her mother—a writer and poet in her own right—and her father, her greatest support, provided Austen with enormous and unconventional support to her and her endeavors at a time when women were told to stay in their place and learn how to cook, clean and sew.  Despite the hurdles and obstacles she faced from her own upbringing and the field that she worked in, Austen won over the hearts of her readers by putting women at the center of her stories. Although some would disagree, our GIC Talk presenter for this week, Rachel Brown-St. John, believes that Austen was a feminist, but perhaps not in the modern sense of the word. For the first time ever, the literary world saw the portrayal of women not solely in the classic depiction of the “damsel in distress”, but as fully developed human beings with the agency to make and see out their decisions, for better or for worse. They were not simply flat characters that were impacted and implicated by the stories they were in. Rather, Austen put the pen in the hands of her main female leads, clearing the way for other female authors to join the literary scene.   This is what a feminist looks like.   For those that are new to Austen and her writing, check out Emma or Pride and Prejudice. 

▶ Date: April 6, 2019▶ Title: Practicing Solidarity in Jeju▶ Speaker: Kaia Vereide▶ Review: BAE Do Hyeop (GIC Volunteer)  These days, tens of thousands of news items are flooded every day. Just as breaking news from yesterday is fading from the memory of people living today, it is not awkward at all for us to forget what happened in Gangjeong Village in Jeju Island. How much do you remember about Gangjeong Village? Destruction of Kurumbi rocks, fierce confrontation between demonstrators and police, fear of arms race that would spread from the construction of naval base, marine being blamed in a truck; people would remember at least some moments of what happened. After a long time since the news went up and down, the naval base was eventually completed in Gangjeong Village.    So far, the demonstrators are holding campaign and bowing a hundred times every Saturday. I know the majority of people are not satisfied with the result, but why are they still doing it for? I could hear the reason from Kaia Vereide from America has lived for 6 years in Gangjeong Village.    Kaia became interested in international affairs in her high school days through an event commemorating the massacre of Darfur, South Sudan. She got appalled by the fact that such thing happened even now in 21st century. While agonizing over what she could do other than pray for them, she decided to study international studies and has since campaigned for peace through various NGOs, including anti-death penalty rallies and anti-military support from the U.S. military dictatorship in South America.  While working through various institutions, she came to Gangjeong Village with a group called Frontiers. The organization is for educational activities for countries with conflicts and has a hub for activists in Gangjeong. Kaia said she was interested in the history of Jeju Island of numerous foreign along with the Jeju 4.3 incident, and could not understand how to overcome its history and build a naval base there that had been reborn as an island of peace by hosting a pleasant natural environment and various international conferences or events.   After all, the naval base was built, but the reason why Kaia is still a hundred times ahead of him was that the people who were with him were good and that they should learn their commitment to peace and how to carry it through. Now, Kang's rally is not just for Kang. The move was taken a step further as an event to pray for peace in all parts of the world in conjunction with the peace movement for other disputed areas. Kaia is continuing a number of activities, including conducting peace classes as well as rallies. With the belief that these efforts are the beginning of a more peaceful world.    Who keeps peace? Superman? Police? How should peace be kept? By being stronger than others? By putting down all the weapons all together? Then, what is peace? Everyone answers to this question differently. And I also find it is difficult to answer the above questions clearly. But I believe that at least to the extent of protecting my loved ones from immediate threats is to keep 'our' peace. I don't know even now while I'm studying in college, but Kaia insists on putting down the weapons firmly. She responded by doing what she believed. Regardless of right or wrong, the image of someone dedicates his or her life to the values for all is truly noble. Isn't that why all saints are being respected? Although she did not mark as great as historic people yet, I would dare to say that Kaia's life was never been futile in any aspect. I hope that the sweat of her and her colleagues to spread in the hearts of all those who look forward to peace. 

 ▶Date: March 29th▶Topic: Be The Change Project▶Speaker: Dana Han▶Review Writer: Bakhodirjon Komilov (Baha) (GIC Talk Volunteer) -          “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding” -Albert EinsteinHow much do you agree with this statement or how much you understand the word “understanding”? Each of us has different opinion and experience to explain this. Our speaker Dana started her talk with this quote at the beginning. The topic was entitled as “Be the change project” and it was full of unexpected surprises. I was expecting to have just a typical speech that usually speakers come and share their own thoughts. However, it was really unexpected talk and got more interesting by involving the audience. The talk after a while turned into an experiment under the name of “Be the change project”. The audience were sat as a circle by facing each other to learn how listen our partner. So, everyone had a partner to discuss the questions that were given by Speaker. There were three major questions that had to be discussed by people to learn how to be a good listener. #Way to listen1 - was about to share the things we love that could be everything like people, food, physical things and so on. Each person was supposed to talk 3 minutes and another partner should be silent, and after talk no comment, advice or questions. Personally, by doing this part, I discovered myself as a not good listener, because while my partner was talking I wanted to share my own things but couldn’t do it as it was rule. #Way to listen 2 Memorable episodes from our childhood. We always meet our friends but do not really talk our childhood memories very often. The second part was about “reflecting back” to our partner’s speech. It was such a moment that I could not say anything to reflect back. My partner shared her crazy and funny memories that she did when she was young, and my reflection was a bit awkward as it is because I had different childhood. # Way to listen 3 - According to Bill Bullard “Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge… is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self-kind of understanding.” In this part, we were asked to listen to our partners for what’s important to the other person, for their feelings, their values, their hopes and we were not required to give any opinions. For me this part was little hard to do. In fact, we were changing our partners after every question, and at the last part, I had to discuss with a Korean woman that could not speak good English. But it wasn’t difficult due to language barrier, but it was so different that I could feel her hardships by her speech.  In general, the talk was really useful to all of us including me too. I learnt a lot and people enjoyed and thanked to Dana for discovering their weakness. The project has really worked for most of us and looking forward her speech again coming this April 20th with a project again titled as “Be the Change Project: Our feelings into Our Allies” .   

▶Title: ​"A Journey to the World's Biggest Archipelago"▶Speaker: Karina Prananto & Bobby A.Darmawan (Indonesia)▶Reviewer: LEE Seobin (Teenage Volunteer)The subject of today's GIC Talk was about Indonesia. After attending to this lecture, I could understand the culture of Indonesia that I didn't know much about before. First of all, I became want to visit Komodo Island the most among the places that speaker introduced to people. As the island will be closed to protect the environment within the region, it really motivated me to visit the island more than ever. Komodo Island will not accept any tourists for one year from 2020 to improve its habitat. It was a very meaningful time to learn about their culture. As there are no much opportunities to listen the lecture in English, the program is more valuable and unique within Gwangju City. I am willing to  attend this program more later. ▶Reviewer: KIM Jiwon (Teenage Volunteer) It was interesting to see many seniors attending the GIC Talk and talk with some foreigners. During the talk, I wanted to visit Yogyakarta, Indonesia to participate in a religious celebration of the biggest Buddhist temple in the world. I always go to the temples when visiting foreign countries. And I expect the one in Yogyakarta being one of my best experiences. I'm surprised at the facts that Indonesia's markets don't sell plastic bags anymore and there are six official religions. I liked the point that tip is not common, but appreciated. Some strong tipping culture regions had made me quite embarrassed. The 'slow' culture of Indonesia seems very desirable, and as the speaker said, the whole Korea society must slow down. I was grateful for having opportunity to meet many foreigners and improve my English. In addition to strengthen the capacity of local citizens, GIC Talk promotes cultural communication between Koreans and foreigners. It's notable that GIC Talk's domestic and foreign are willing to share their knowledge and experience though they don't have any tuition fees.  

 ▶Date: March 9th▶Topic: Test of Proficiency in Korean: How to prepare for it▶Speaker: Harsh Kumar Mishra (India)▶Review Writer: Bakhodirjon Komilov (Baha) (GIC Talk Volunteer) These days, the number of foreigners is increasing and knowing Korean language is not easy. To get a job or be a student in Korea, foreigners are required to take a TOPIK test.  On Saturday March 9th, the talk was about Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) for foreigner only. TOPIK was first taken in 1997 and since then thousands of people have participated in this well reputed exam. Now, If you want to study or work in Korea, TOPIK score is mandatory thing at many organizations. There are various Visa programs like F2, F5 where you can get points for your TOPIK score.  People think that learning day to day Korean will help them in getting good TOPIK score. But from his experience and research, it's not the case. Learners will need to decide your goal from the beginning that they are going to learn Korean to be good at it or just to get TOPIK and get over with it.  The talk covered such points on Korean language learning and try to provide a basic guide on getting a good score in TOPIK based on his personal experience research related to TOPIK. Honestly, the talk helped me to understand to get higher level and made me understand what I am studying and directed to my set goals. The speaker is an expert for www.topikguide.com official website and currently pursuing his PhD at Chonnam National University. He suggested some preparation tips and ways for TOPIK. TOPIK PREPARATION SEQUENCE by speaker:1. Make yourself able to read, write and listen to Korean (4months)2. Decide TOPIK level3. Take the MOCK test4. See where you lack most5. Download 5 previous papers6. Solve it one by one categorizing its grammar and vocabulary.7. Make yourself list of Grammars and vocabulary adding 4 grammar patterns and 100 vocabulary a day. These tips cannot be as effective as for everyone as he said but he tutored some of his fellow friends and it helped in most cases. Harsh achieved the highest level of TOPIK that he can be proud of himself. During his speech, he mentioned the types of TOPIK which are TOPIK I and TOPIK II. TOPIK I cover level 1 and 1 which are beginner as well as elementary steps while TOPIK II includes all level; 3,4,5 and 6. Applicants are suggested to take TOPIK II as many institutions and universities accept level 3 for admissions and job openings.  Additionally, the next exam is in July and application period is in May. Take your chance and achieve what you have been dreaming. GOOD LUCK!