By Hong Kilju

Recruiting of the 12th class of Korea.net's Honorary Reporters began on March 28, with the application period to last three weeks until April 18. 

More than 1,400 foreign nationals applied just a day after recruitment began. And last week, or right before the period began, Honorary Reporters submitted articles reflecting on their activities last year.

■ Egyptian reflects on her second year as an Honorary Reporter (Alaa Atef Ebada from Egypt in Arabic and English)

Alaa Atef Ebada from Egypt's certificate of appointment as an Honorary Reporter (Alaa Atef Ebada)

Alaa Atef Ebada from Egypt last year was mentioned 11 times in this section and her stories were among the top 10 articles. She had the most views last year of any Honorary Reporter with over 55,000. In December last year, she was invited to Korea as the top Honorary Reporter along with peer Araceli Rosario Mariel Gonzalez from Argentina to attend the K-Healing On Festival hosted by the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS). 

A medical student, Ebada completed her internship and awaits assignment to a hospital in Egypt. "The process of memorizing Korean vocabulary made my study of pharmacology and pathology enjoyable," she said. "This led me to approach Korean culture and content and became a milestone for me to join the Honorary Reporters program." 

"How nice to have in our lives a mental and physical effort that we do without compulsion just because we want it," she added. "Hobbies have a healing power, and that's what I learned here. I hope to continue with Korea.net for a very long time."

■ 7 Filipinas share experiences with Honorary Reporter program (Seema Thomas from India in English)

This is the cover of the fall magazine for the September mission last year put together by Seema Thomas from India and 10 Honorary Reporters from the Philippines. (Click the image to access the e-publication.)

Seema Thomas from India edited a fall magazine with 10 Honorary Reporters from the Philippines in last year's September group mission. Unable to find a spot on an Indian group due to being late, she came across a Philippine team in the program's social media community whose theme was studying Korean, something Thomas was highly interested in. 

Despite the difference in nationality, the team collaborated thanks to their passion for learning Hangeul to produce a literary collection. Thomas called the process a special memory as their product was selected one of the 12 best works out of 75. This article comprised reviews of last year's activities by her seven Philippine teammates.

■ Review of my 2 years as an Honorary Reporter (Laura Lopez Velazquez from Mexico in Spanish)

Laura Lopez Velazquez poses with her Best Honorary Reporters award from last year. (Laura Lopez Velazquez)

Laura Lopez Velazquez was named one of the 13 best Honorary Reporters last year after getting 22 of her articles posted on Korea.net. She said her best memory was having her stories included in the KOCIS monthly magazine Korea three times. Drawn to traditional Korean culture, she said she tried to draw attention by writing about traditional beauty such as maedeup (knot craft) and obangsaek (five colors) in Korean food.

 
In the first online gathering of Honorary Reporters in August last year, she gave a presentation on "How to Use Talk Talk Korea," referring to the program's content management system. "I was very nervous to present in front of more than 450 people worldwide, but it was a special experience communicating with them in real time."

kalhong617@korea.kr