Opening Remarks by Amb. KIM Gheewhan
President, The Korea Foundation
Opening Ceremony of the 6th Public Diplomacy Week

Understand Avenue (Seongsu-dong)
October 13, 2023, 5:00 p.m.

Good afternoon!

I am Gheewhan Kim, president of the Korea Foundation. It is my real pleasure to welcome all of you to the opening of the Korea Foundation's 6th Public Diplomacy Week!

I want to extend my sincere gratitude to H.E. Ambassador Hong Seok-in Deputy Minister, Her Excellency Ambassador Sohn Jie-ae, and H.E. Ambassador Antoine Azzam, Excellencies and distinguished guests for your presence today.

I am also pleased to welcome Professor Clark Sorenson, Professor emeritus of University of Washington and congratulate him on winning the 2023 Korea Foundation Award for his outstanding contributions to the Korean Studies in the United States. Professor Sorenson, during almost 40 years of service at the University of Washington has significantly advanced the status of Korean Studies as director of the Korean Studies Center and sometimes as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Korean Studies.

The good thing about the Korea Foundation is, we are connecting people from all walks of life and providing funds to good programs, introducing the trends of public diplomacy. The video you have just watched showcases the KF programs over the last 5 years that has provided networking opportunities and reasons to come and join.

This year’s theme is "A Connected World, A Joint Future." KF invites you to the 6th journey of public diplomacy, seeking and pursuing common values for the benefit of future generations. Over the three days of this event, we are hosting public talks on climate change, gender issues, and on many other topics. I hope this series of talks will become very useful, connecting all of us to prepare for a better future together.

We are opening the Understand Avenue that provides global culture experience zone with 15 participating Embassies and special events of Pacific Islands Countries and Mongolia as well. Practical cooking classes with 4 participating Embassies are also shown. I am really pleased to offer you something to enjoy together.

On behalf of the KF, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who has made this year's PD Week possible, including Excellencies and colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 20 participating Embassies and 2 Cultural Institutes; the Bid Committee for World Expo 2030 Pusan, the Food and Agriculture Organization's Partnership and Liaison Office in Seoul.

Please enjoy the evening.

Thank you.