Workshop seeks to narrow the perception gap between Korea, Asean

Some 50 students of Asean member states and Korea began their week-long exchange program in Seoul on Tuesday. “Looking around, Asean is now everywhere in Korea,” said Kim…

Nearly 50 participants from Asean member states and Korea attend the opening ceremony of the ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop in Seoul on Tuesday. The 10-day workshop to take place in both Seoul and Da Nang, Vietnam, is hosted by the ASEAN-Korea Centre, in cooperation with Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Korea Duy Tan University. [ASEAN-KOREA CENTRE]

Dozens of young people from Asean nations and Korea gathered in Seoul on Tuesday to talk and, hopefully, narrow some glaring gaps in perception.

"I think it is important for us to build positive perceptions toward each other, because based on my existing understanding, Asean and Korean youths still do not have really positive perceptions towards each other," said Se Horseng, a student from Cambodia pursuing a master's degree at Busan University of Foreign Studies.

"We can be agents to strengthen the Asean-Korea relations in the future."

The ASEAN-Korea Centre, which had regularly hosted the in-person youth exchanges called the ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop, was hosting the program for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Surveys the center conducted in 2017 and 2021 found discrepancies in how the youths of Asean member states and Korea saw each other.

While 90.4 percent of the Asean respondents living in the Asean region and 97.7 percent of the Asean respondents living in Korea said they’re interested in Korea, only 52.8 percent of Korean respondents said they’re interested in Asean.

There is much room for change, said the head of the center in opening the program on Tuesday.

“Looking around, Asean is now everywhere in Korea,” said Kim Hae-yong, secretary general of the ASEAN-Korea Centre in Seoul, in addressing the participants of the workshop.

“From food and coffee to multi-cultural families, workers from Southeast Asian countries, and members in Korean idol groups, we see various Asean waves around us."

The center, in cooperation with Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) and Duy Tan University in Vietnam, invited nearly 50 undergraduate and graduate students from the 10 Asean countries to partake in a 10-day workshop in Seoul and the Vietnamese city of Da Nang.

Vietnam is the coordinator nation for Asean-Korea relations for the 2021 to 2024 term.

“Through this workshop, you can pursue many significant activities, such as the promotion of cultural, historical as well as enriching your networking among young people,” said Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung in addressing the participants in Seoul on Tuesday. “More importantly, this workshop would turn young delegates from beneficiaries of good ASEAN-Korea relations into active owners of the better of this relationship.”

Nearly 20 of the participants were students from Korea attending universities including HUFS, Sogang University, Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University.

Participants heard from Kim Bong-chul, professor of international studies at HUFS, on Tuesday, and were scheduled to attend additional lectures on how Asean and Korean youths understand and perceive each other; history and culture of Korea and Vietnam; and digital and innovation policies of Korea and Da Nang’s efforts for sustainable tourism.

“Participants will also conduct visits to institutions and fieldwork sites in both Seoul and the Vietnamese city of Da Nang and cooperate with each other through team assignments, engage in cultural exchanges and foster friendship based on enhanced mutual awareness,” said the center in its statement.

The exchange program this year was the eighth one hosted by the center since its inaugural youth exchange forum hosted in 2013.

Cheon Ji-hoon, a student majoring in the Thai language at HUFS, said more of such exchanges with Asean youths should be encouraged to boost Korean society's general reception of different values and cultures.

"Strengthening cooperation between Korea and Asean is important to improve mutual economic competitiveness," Cheon said. "Korea is still lacking in embracing diversity, and I expect the programs to help all of us deepen our understanding of each other."

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