KOREA FOUNDATION

Letters from AKF

Bringing My Love for ASEAN into AKF Activities

By Soi Lee, Member of the “4 Potential for 10” Team (4th AKF) 

My interest in ASEAN countries first developed because I had a lot of friends from those countries. I then came across the ASEAN Culture House and its newsletter, the “ASEAN Culture House Monthly,” and slowly but steadily, my love for ASEAN grew, culminating in my participation in the 4th edition of the ASEAN-Korea Futurist (AKF) program. 

   As participant of the 4th AKF, my aim is to let people know interesting stories about the ASEAN region to encourage them to take a greater interest in the ten countries. The ASEAN countries that I came across, either by visiting them or by making friends from there, have a multitude of attractive aspects. I think it is a shame that there are so many people who don’t really know much about the ASEAN countries. And so, through the AKF activities, I'd like to learn more about ASEAN and use this knowledge to inform a wider audience. In addition, I'd like to help promote the various events taking place at the ASEAN Culture House, which allow people to have access to and enjoy the ASEAN countries’ cultural diversity. 

   Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 4th AKF will take place mostly online. This means that I won't get to see much of my AKF friends, and there won't be any large-scale, in-person events hosted by the ASEAN Culture House. However, a focus on online activities means that I will meet a wider range of people, and I'll also have a chance to come up with innovative ways to disseminate information about ASEAN via the internet. I'd also like to take this opportunity to say a few words to my 24 AKF friends. Over the coming months, I hope we can encourage each other to achieve what we all came here to achieve. I hope at the end of the 4th AKF’s activities, we'll remember this time as one of the happiest times in our lives.