By Honorary Reporter Stephanie Pradnyaparamita from Indonesia
Photos and Videos = Stephanie Pradnyaparamita  

The Korean Embassy in Indonesia from Sept. 2-7 ran the promotional project TeKo Nang Jawa, which literally means "Coming to Java" in Javanese. TeKo is an abbreviation for Teman Korea, which means "friends from Korea." The Javanese are one of the largest tribes in Indonesia and usually refer to natives of Java Island, especially Central and East Java. Through this project, Korean Ambassador to Jakarta Kim Chang-beom visited five cities in Java by bus. Covering approximately 1,000 km, he started his journey in the Indonesian capital and made stops in Cirebon, Brebes, Solo and Surabaya.

The purpose of this project was to promote Korean culture not only in major Indonesian cities like Jakarta but also in smaller cities with many Hallyu fans but a dearth of Korean cultural events. I was surprised to hear about this project because traveling Indonesia by land is not easy, and this project was the first of its kind conducted by a foreign embassy in Jakarta.

On Sept. 2, I attended the news conference and the kickoff ceremony for the event in Jakarta. There, Kim mentioned that aside from Korean cultural events to be presented in each city, a food truck would hand out Korean street food such as tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) and eomuk (fishcake) to attendees. He also planned to eat food indigenous to each Indonesian city he visited.


The anchor of this project was the event Solo International Performing Arts 2019 held from Sept. 5-7 in Solo, Central Java, featuring Korean cultural performances starting with samgomu (three-drum dance). Enthusiasm for this event was high as people who attended were not only from Solo but also from several nearby cities such as Magelang, Boyolali and even Jakarta.

The industrial aspect of the city of Brebes was probably why Kim visited there. This city acts as a gateway between West and East Java, and many Korean companies are based there. Yet the Korean Embassy says the city's exposure to Korean culture remains low. So Kim's visit was not only meant to meet natives interested in Korean culture but also Indonesian and Korean workers at Korean companies there.


This project was a cooperative effort involving the Korean Cultural Center in Jakarta, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. and many more. Famous Korean YouTuber Jang Hansol also took part by posting vlogs on his channel Korea Reomit. For the project, he even rode a bus with a picture of K-pop group Exo, a KTO ambassador, on one side and that of fellow K-pop boy band Astro, a brand ambassador for the food company, on the other.

chaey0726@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.