The Irish Association of Korea, and the Embassy of Ireland, South Korea, in association with the Emerald Cultural Institute, Dublin, are very proud to announce the winners of the inaugural Irish-Korean Essay Competition for university students in Korea. The competition raised awareness about connections between both Ireland and Korea. The lucky winner receives a month long opportunity to study at a leading Irish language institute. Second prize will receive a sum of money, while the remaining Runners up will also receive cultural prizes.

Details of the Competition

The competition was administered by the Irish Association of Korea, a non-profit organization which actively seeks to promote Ireland and all that falls under the banner of ‘Irishness’ within Korea, and supported by the Embassy of Ireland in Seoul. The competition was designed to highlight Ireland as a leading location for study abroad, and as a unique and fascinating cultural destination.

Conor O’Reilly, the chairman of The Irish Association of Korea and a lecturer in Kyunghee University, explained that the closest and strongest bonds which exist between Korea and Ireland are between the people and their own personal experiences. “There are stronger connections between Irish and Korean people than you may think” he explained. ” More and more Korean people are connecting with Ireland on a personal level, and it is because of these individual connections that Korean people and Irish people are developing a stronger affinity together”, Mr. O’Reilly explains.

“The topic for the Essay competition was quite vague – deliberately – to allow essayists to show their creativity as well as their language and research ability. ‘Barley- A story of Resilience’ is a piece of evocative, imaginative and informative writing. Its weaves a tale of the personal and the national experiences of both Ireland and Korea and brings a new perspective to the relationship between the countries.

The essays which did not come in first place but are awarded prizes are also deserving of special mention. All of them bring a fresh approach to looking at the ways in which Ireland and Korea relate to one another. The second prize winner ‘How Korean Women may learn from Irish Women’ is a thought provoking piece on social change in two very different but traditionally socially conservative societies. I am proud that the competition provided a space for such topics to be discussed” said judges for the competition.

It is through this inaugural Irish-Korean Essay Competition in Korea that the The Irish Association of Korea and the Embassy of Ireland in South Korea sought to strengthen these personal ties by offering Korean university students the special opportunity to experience Ireland first-hand, and to develop their own relationships with Ireland.

Winning Essays

1. Barley – A Story of Resilience
   Ro Seong Ja
2. How Korean Women May Learn from Irish Women
   Paek Jung Won
3. Exclusion and Revival of the Indigenous Language of Ireland and Korea
   Choi Min Jeong
4. ‘The Wake’: A Window for Viewing Ireland and Korea
   Nam Ji Hyun
5. Freedom, Creativity and Harmony that Korea Should Learn: Irish Street Arts and Culture
   Yun Chae Young

Further details here

Here’s a dance that will probably get performed – The Siege of Ennis

See – lots of  fun!

Many of you have been enthusiastic participants in previous celebrations and we hope that those who have not or have just arrived will come along this year. The events have been organised by the Irish Association of Korea over the past decade and I salute all their tremendous volunteer efforts to bring a flavour of Ireland and our culture to the streets of Seoul.

This year the IAK is hoping to continue the tradition with a city centre event on Saturday 17 March. However, the major challenge remains funding. It needs resources (for the hire of equipment) and staffing necessary for a public event that last year attracted some 10,000 visitors, expats and Koreans alike.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in becoming a sponsor, I would greatly encourage you to contact the IAK. Further information and contact details are available at their website www.iak.co.kr and email – irishassociationkorea@gmail.com.

Best wishes,

Eamonn

The Irish Association of Korea and the Embassy of Ireland in South Korea, in association with Emerald Cultural Institute, are proud to announce the shortlist of ten candidates in contention for winning the inaugural Irish Korean Essay Competiton.

This competition commenced in October of 2011, and final entries were received on November 30, 2011. Since then, over 110 entries have been independently and anonymously read, assessed and judged according to strict criteria.

Full details of the competition can be found here.

Today, after much deliberation, we are happy to release the shortlist of candidates in line for winning the grand prize of one month study in the Emerald Cultural Institute in Dublin, plus spending money.

Congratulations to all entrants who have made it to the shortlist stage of the competition!

Due to a continued policy of anonymity so that the final judging process remains impartial, the essays can only be referred to by title.

Irish Korean Essay Competition – Shortlist

1. Freedom, Creativity and Harmony that Korea Should Learn: Irish Street Arts and Culture
2. Transition Year: Opening Yourself up to Dreams
3. My Favorite Children’s Song and Ireland
4. ‘The Wake’: A Window for Viewing Ireland and Korea
5. Partnership Beyond the Commanality
6. Barley – A Story of Resilience
7. Make Ireland Maze Island
8. How Korean Women May Learn from Irish Women
9. Exclusion and Revival of the Indigenous Language of Ireland and Korea
10. Ireland and Korea, a Step Forward

Winners will be contacted on Friday, February 17^th, and following this the full details will be posted on both websites of the Irish Association of Korea and the Embassy of Ireland.

Each competition entrant has already been contacted directly in relation to their submission. The judging panel regret that no particular comment can be made in relation to any essay. We would like to thank all entrants for their submissions and we encourage all eligible entrants to try again in 2012.

Seoul
Please come and join us on the second Saturday of every month at Cafe Eire in Hongdae.

Read more about this event here

Suwon
“Meet and greet” takes place every first Thursday in Yeongtong dong opposite Kyunghee University’s main gate. There is a nice, spacious Holly’s Coffee. The group meets here from 8pm. Please follow these facebook and meetup event listings for details on how to find the location.

Please note that we hope to help setup other meetups around Korea soon. If you would like to host a meetup or suggest a location for a meetup please email the Irish Association of Korea

Further details here

Here’s a dance that will probably get performed – The Siege of Ennis

See – it’s fun!

“Ambassador’s Message 19 January 2012
While in contrast to last year, we have not had much snow, I want to draw your attention to two events that cannot do without it.

The first is the International Ski Festival.  It has been one of the highlights of the year for expatriate families living in Korea for thirty years and indeed the Festival is celebrating its 30^th anniversary.

It has been my honour to be selected as this year’s Chairman.  Indeed previous Irish Ambassador’s have served in this role, including Ambassador Moran for the five years he was posted to Seoul.

He had the distinct advantage of being able to ski!  That said and even though skiing is not a great tradition in Ireland for obvious reasons, if you have skied or are interested in giving it a go, the International Ski Festival is not a bad place to start.  For more information on the event, please visit http://www.yongpyong.co.kr/eng/index.asp

The second concerns the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games and the need for support and volunteers.

It will be held in Pyeongchang in early February next year.  Some of you may have noticed a recent advertising campaign to raise awareness of it. We have heard from Special Olympics Ireland that they expect there to be 14 Irish athletes attending the games, competing in Alpine Skiing and Floorball (Floor Hockey).

One of the unique elements of the Special Olympics is the Host Town Programme where athletes from the different countries stay in a town before the Games begin to learn something of the culture and environment of the host country. Some of you may remember the great success of this programme in Ireland when as a result nearly every corner of the country felt involved.

The organisers of the games are building up to the hosting of the event and are very aware of the challenges of hosting teams from so many different parts of the world. It is not yet certain where the Irish team will be hosted but it is likely to be in the greater Seoul area.

As the Games approach the organisers are looking for both assistance in holding the Games and volunteers to take part in the Host Town Programme. Support could include providing athletes with services, turning up to cheer them on or volunteering to spend the days before the games with the team (26-29 January) acting as local liaison between the Irish team and Korean hosts. Korean language skills would be an added bonus but not essential.  The organisers want to make sure that there is plenty of support for the teams as they compete.

As more details become available on how to sign up to be a volunteer or to offer assistance we will let you know.

In the meantime you might wish to have a look at the Games’ website: http://www.2013sopoc.org/hb/en/sub06

Best wishes and Happy New (Lunar) Year,
Eamonn

Eamonn McKee
Ambassador”

This is the ‘links’ page on the IAK website. Right now, it is out of date and fairly useless. We want to have a very resourceful selection of links for the Irish community here in Korea, and also, for Koreans who may be interested in finding out about Ireland.

If you want to send us in some links with a brief description of what it is and how it was useful to you, please do so. They can be specifically for or about Irish people, or just of general use and interest to Irish people. They can be for music, food, events, clubs, or whatever. Even if it’s a facebook page or blog or whatever, that would be great. Also, if you know of an blogs or websites ran by Irish people this would be great also.

 We will review the contents and suitability before posting any links, so please take this into account before you send it in.

Please email links or content suggestions to iak.chair@gmail.com

http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/generationemigration/2012/01/12/destination-in-focus-south-korea/

“I am writing to let you know of a change to Korean immigration procedures which will come into effect this weekend.

The Embassy has received a formal notification from the Korea Immigration Service that from the 1 January 2012 – this coming Sunday- all non-Korean nationals with some limited exceptions will be required to provide biometric information on entering the Republic of Korea.

The KIS have provided further information on their website which can be viewed here. We would recommend that view this information before travelling.

I do hope you are enjoying a peaceful Christmas period whenever you are and I wish those of you returning to Korea from abroad a safe journey.

Best regards,
Ruth Parkin/Charge d’Affaires”