By Honorary Reporter Minnath Azeez from Sri Lanka

Photos = Minnath Azeez

The following are three programs promoting Korean culture that I participated in last year.

SNS Supporters
As part of the SNS Supporters team, I was tasked to promote my favorite aspects of Korean culture. Because I love watching them, K-dramas were my topic of choice as I wrote articles like one on recommended series. 

I was also part of the organizing team for many events hosted by the Korean Embassy in Sri Lanka. Through my social media, I shared vlog-style videos promoting events organized by the embassy. Many of these posts gained lots of views and quite a few who attended told me that my videos prompted them to take part. I was also glad for the opportunity to help fellow Muslims in Sri Lanka experience Korean culture by participating in programs on halal Korean food.

The Korean Embassy in Sri Lanka held events last year for SNS Supporters. 

WeKO
Standing for "We are KOICA," WeKO is a program comprising 130 domestic and global supporters selected from a pool of over 1,400 applicants last year whose mission is to promote content related to official development assistance and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. As a WeKO supporter, I learned a lot more about the developmental activities of the Sri Lanka office of the Korea International Cooperation Agency, aka KOICA. This program also made got me to create long-form video content for YouTube for the first time. 

Honorary Reporters
I joined Honorary Reporters in 2020, and thus last year was my third year in the program. I learned a lot about Korean culture through the many hours I spent researching and improving my writing skills. I challenged myself to think outside the box when coming up with topics to write about, wracking my brain to find what interested me as well as readers.

Last year, most of my articles covered Korean fashion, one of my main interests. I grew fascinated by modern Hanbok and wanted to learn more about the designers who made them. Because such outfits are also worn by K-pop idols, I was curious how modern Hanbok differs from traditional. I reached out to many well-known designers in the modern Hanbok industry such as Leesle, who has designed outfits for BTS, and Kwon Hye Jin, who made clothing for Momoland.

Among the articles I wrote last year, my interview with webtoon artist Llama got the most views. Her webtoon "Tomorrow" was adapted into a Netflix series. I consider this article my crowning achievement and as a fan of Llama's work, reaching out to her held a lot of meaning for me.

My biggest Korea-related highlight last year, however, was my trip to Korea that I won for being named Best Honorary Reporter in the English-language section. I got to visit places I had only dreamed about and met great people from across the world.

I earned a free trip to Korea after being named the best Honorary Reporter in the English-language section.

Being part of these programs has not only deepened my knowledge of Korean culture but also helped me discover my potential in creating content and writing articles.

kalhong617@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.