SEOUL: The Gyeongsangbuk-do Governor Lee Cheol-woo has appointed Ms. Seon D Chung (a.k.a Zena Chung), founder and chairperson of the Indo-Korea Business Culture Center (IKBCC), as an economic and trade policy advisor for Gyeongsangbuk-do province of South Korea. The new responsibility was bestowed upon Ms. Chung by the Governor in the Gyeongsangbuk-do provincial government office located in the city of Andong recently.

The appointment of Ms. Chung to this coveted post marks significance for India as the Gyeongsangbuk-do province signed an MoU with the Uttar Pradesh government in the presence of the state chief minister Yogi Adityanath in May this year when Gyeongsangbuk-do Governor Lee Cheol-woo led a high-level delegation to India.  The world’s renowned electronic giants Samsung and LG are believed to be born in Gyeongsangbuk-do province.

It is mention-worthy here that in 2018, the UP Chief Minister along with the then first lady of South Korea, Kim Jung Sook, laid the foundation stone of the Queen Heo Memorial Park in Ayodhya. Thus Ayodhya and Korea’s Gimhae city are twin cities.

In an exclusive interview with Asian Community News (ACN) Netwirk, Zena Chung said that in the capacity of Advisor to Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, she would promote university-level student exchanges between the two provinces, Ayurveda medications development between India and Korea,

helping more Indian skilled manpower to come to work in Gyungsangbuk-do to address the manpower shortages here, and also help more Korean small & medium-sized companies (SMEs) to invest in U.P., and vice versa.

Ms. Chung has also proposed establishing a representative office of the Gyeongsangbuk-do provide in India, and the governor assured that he will review it positively.

“In a conversation held after receiving the letter of appointment as an economic cooperation advisor, I proposed to Governor Lee for the establishment of an India business office in Gyeongsangbuk-do, and the governor assured me that he would review it positively. By establishing an Indian business in the province, it will attract not only more foreign students including Indian students who want to study in Korea, especially Gyeongsangbuk-do, but it will also serve as an opportunity for SMEs in Korea that want to advance into India or, conversely, Indian companies that want to advance from India to Korea,” she said.

Ms. Chung also told Governor Lee Cheol Woo and Vice-Governor for Economic Affairs, Lee Dal Hee that the establishment of the representative office in India will serve as a great bridge for many private universities in Korea, which are experiencing a serious crisis due to the low birth rate, and for many local small and medium-sized Korean businesses, which are at a crossroads between life and death due to rising labor costs in the country.

“In Gyungsangbuk-do province, there are over 70 universities, and a majority of them need foreign (including Indian) students due to the shrinking population in the country. So, many private universities are in strong demand to fill the shortages of domestic students with foreign students to continue to maintain the universities here. So is the fate of most of the private universities in other provinces of Korea. Following this, the Gyungsangbuk-do government is taking many measures to drive more foreign and Indian students to study in Gyungsangbuk-do,” she added.

While commenting on the employment opportunities for Indian students in Korea, Ms. Chung said that after the completion of courses, the universities in Gyungsangbuk-do would help them find jobs in the province and even open opportunities where they even could apply for permanent resident status after their employment with the local companies in the province. It will also help the local universities and companies that may be in shortage of manpower.

The letter of appointment by the Gyungsangbuk-do government read, “Based on your excellent performance as a civilian diplomat and promoter for the Republic of Korea in India, Gyeongsangbuk-do is making the appointment to you, Ms. Seon D Chung to become the Economic Policy Advisor of the province to advise on mutual cooperation and development in the field of economy and trade between Gyeongsangbuk-do and India.”

When asked to comment on the potential India and Korea ties carried in the time to come, Zena Chung, Chairman of the Indo-Korea Business Culture Center (IKBCC), said that India wasn’t merely about the world’s top population but also the high performance of the Indian diaspora around the world.

“In March of this year, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous country with a population of 1.45 billion. India is well known for the outstanding performance of the Indian diaspora not only within its own country but also around the world.”

She cited an example, saying the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent, is the first non-white Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the youngest Prime Minister in 210 years. The current Vice President of the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris, also has a mother who was a breast cancer scientist and her mother was born into an Indian Tamil family and immigrated to the United States.

Meanwhile, Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongsangbuk-do has been actively promoting an era of full-scale so-called “local decentralized diplomacy” at the local municipal and provincial government level as Korea’s status has greatly increased in the era of globalization.

Regarding this, Zena Chung, Chairperson of the Indo-Korea Business Culture Center (IKBCC), said that Korea has now grown into one of the top 10 economies in the G10 economies, and because of this, local governments in Korea have been able to develop economic and cultural relations positively with many foreign countries.

“Rather than remaining passive, the era of active local diplomacy has arrived in which global diplomacy can be carried out more vigorously with various countries abroad. As such, Korea’s status in the world, not only in terms of the rise of economic and military power but also in culture so called K-culture, has arrived. She added that this was possible because of the country’s remarkable growth so-called Miracle of Han River,” she added.

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