[Korean and Foreign College Students Talk about Unification]
- Holding the inauguration ceremony for the 9th Class of College Student Reporters and the 1st Class of Foreign College Student Reporters Staying in Korea –
The Ministry of Unification holds the inauguration ceremony for the 9th Class of College Student Reporters and the 1st Class of Foreign College Student Reporters Staying in Korea at 2 p.m. on May 13 at the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue.
The Ministry has run the College Student Reporters program since 2008 in order to strengthen communication with the younger generation, who will drive the future of a unified Korea, and to build a consensus on unification.
This year, the Ministry has selected the 1st Class of “Foreign College Student Reporters Staying in Korea” (20 persons) and plans to run the class as well as the 9th Class of College Student Reporters (42 persons). Along with the 5th Class of Young Student Reporters (300 persons) launched on April 27, they are expected to effectively help build consensus on unification.
The 1st Class of Foreign College Student Reporters Staying in Korea consists of 20 college and graduate students from 13 countries including the United States, Singapore, Russia, and China. They will write articles about unification in both Korean and their mother tongues, distribute them throughout the world, and generally help increase understanding of and interest in unification at home and abroad.
At the one-and-a-half-hour opening ceremony, letters of appointment will be presented to the 9th Class of College Student Reporters and the 1st Class of Foreign College Student Reporters Staying in Korea, and awards will be granted by the Minister to outstanding reporters of the eighth class. There will then be a “conversation with the Unification Minister.”
The Ministry also plans to host a workshop of Korean and foreign college students for two days and one night in Yangpyeong, enhancing their understanding of unification policy and helping them learn about how to write news articles. In particular, the Ministry plans to conduct a meeting between North Korean defectors and foreign students, helping them better understand the actual situation in North Korea and the true need for unification.
The Korean and foreign college student reporters selected this year will serve a one-year term, from May 2016 to April 2017. They will engage in online activities such as covering, writing, and posting stories on the Unification Ministry’s official blog “Unification, a Future Dream” (blog.unikorea.go.kr) and participate in events hosted by the Ministry, such as Unification Expo 2016 and the fourth Unification Education Week.
The Ministry of Unification will consistently support college students, who will play the leading role in a unified Korea, to ensure that they can become talented people with a spirit of challenge striving for unification.
