Internship at Korea Foundation

 

 

SeongHoon Yoo

Dual Master’s Degree Candidate

in Media, Peace and Conflict Studies

As a graduate student developing theoretical and practical understandings of the structure of international society in a multicultural setting, I have had the enthusiasm for effecting positive change within the international community.

After receiving an internship offer from Korea Foundation, I tried to apply my academic knowledge to the practical field for accumulating invaluable experience. Korea Foundation is an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade which aims to promote a better understanding of Korea in the international community and to foster global friendship by conducting exchange activities between the Republic of Korea and foreign countries around the world.

As a research assistant in the Policy & Research Department, I had helped Ms. Kim Sun-hyoung, Research Head of Korea Foundation, who was my immediate supervisor, to carry out in-depth research on “Public Diplomacy” and “Soft Power” during the summer break (about 2 months) in 2008. The Policy & Research Department is responsible for long-term policy development and introducing major policies of the Korea Foundation. In addition, the department hosts and supports bilateral and multilateral forums. The department also holds public seminars to promote a broader understanding of Korea and current issues affecting Korea in the international community.

At the time when I worked, Mr. Im Seong-jun, the Chairman of the Board of Korea Foundation, had a strong interest in public diplomacy and Korea Foundation was ready to hold a forum on the related topic. I had completed a draft of the lecture on public diplomacy for him. In addition, I was in charge of in-depth research on a new topic, Nation Branding, collecting material including various practices of the countries to improve their national image and analyzing the data gathered. These consecutive meaningful works made me understand the topics better such as public diplomacy and nation branding so that I was able to think about the link with to my academic study and future layout.

Another task that I was responsible for during the internship was to support the forum business of Korea Foundation. Even though it was a short time of 2 months, I coordinated the program and was responsible for contacting and communicating with the participants for three fora: “Cultural Diversity and UNESCO” conducted by Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, “Korean Studies in the United States: The Challenges Ahead” lead by Robert E. Buswell Jr., President of the Association for Asian Studies, and “Next Generation Leaders Forum: Korea-China-Japan”. Especially, when it comes to the Forum, “Cultural Diversity and UNESCO” conducted by Director-General of UNESCO, I sent to the formal invitation to the department of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and brought the students who were interested in the issue to the Forum. For that reasons, that forum could be remembered as the most significant event for me.

Taking advantage of this internship opportunity at Korea Foundation, I was able to expand the width of my academic interest in the field and also could get a more meaningful experience by going through the real world directly. Above all things, I was able to get the lesson of how important it is to carry out the task with a strong sense of responsibility and could learn how to collaborate and continue a strong bond with colleagues through holding three fora successfully.

These experiences could help me further refine the level of professionalism and communication required for long-term success in the field. I was honored to have the opportunity to work with Korea Foundation.