<Cultural exchange story>

During the time when the Vietnamese soccer team continued to win, Koreans cheered and rejoiced for Vietnam’s victory together. The only reason was that the coach of the Vietnamese national soccer team was Park Hang-seo.

The success of the Vietnamese soccer team brought cultural exchange between both countries.

As the number of Korean travelers to Vietnam has increased, Vietnam became the second-largest country visited by Koreans in 2019.

[Table-1] Number of Korean Overseas Travelers to Major Asian Countries

(Unit : Number, %)

On Korean TV, more and more programs have been produced about traveling to Vietnam and introduced Vietnamese food.

Young Koreans, who have increased interest in Vietnam as a whole, are creating and introducing Vietnamese-related contents on their Youtube.

Then, how about Vietnam?

A popular music streaming website in Vietnam categorizes their music into Vietnam, the West, and Korea.

The rights of popular films, dramas and TV shows in South Korea are exported to Vietnam, where remakes and televises them.

More and more Vietnamese students have come to Korea to study every year, and the number in 2019 has increased by 45 times compared to 2010.

[Table-2] Total number of Vietnamese studying in Korea by the year(2010~2019)

(Unit : number)

<Economic exchange story>

The relationship between Korea and Vietnam has continued in various fields since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, making Vietnam the fourth largest trading partner of Korea and Korea the second of Vietnam.

As of 2018, Korea’s investment in Vietnam topped with the number of 7,459 investments and the amount of $62.57 billion.

– ① South Korea(7,459 cases, $62.57 billion) ② Japan(3,996 cases, $57.02 billion) ③ Singapore(2,159 cases, $46.62 billion) ④ Taiwan(2,589 cases, $31.44 billion)

Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, Hyundai Heavy Industries, SK Energy, GS Engineering & Construction, Korea Electric Power Corporation, POSCO, Samsung C&T, Kyungnam Engineering & Construction and Hyosung are major investment companies in Vietnam.

The investments from South Korea contribute to 35 percents of total Vietnam’s exports.

Not only the economic achievements, but the two countries are also in-laws.

Of the number of international marriages, Vietnam has marked the highest rate since 2015.

Under the spirit of future-oriented and mutual respect, the relationship between both countries has been reciprocal, active and creative for the past 25 years.

<COVID-19 story>

The fear and shock provoked by the COVID-19 is spreading all over the world.

Although the methods and political systems are different from each other, Korea and Vietnam are fighting against the Covid-19 relatively successfully.

The method that Vietnam has dealt with it can be defined as transparent disclosure of information and intensive administrative measures.

Vietnamese authorities approved the share of information on the Internet, making the information on disease transparent to the public. In particular, while closing the border to suspend for foreigners to enter the country, they announced that strict measures would be implemented for the citizens and heavy penalties would be imposed on those who violate them.

Now many foreign media share about the success stories of the battle against the COVID-19 in South Korea and Vietnam.

On April 23, The Daily Telegraph in the UK released an article titled ‘Vietnam lifts lockdown: How a country of 95m bordering China recorded zero coronavirus deaths’, regarding the fast response of Vietnam.

Since February, when foreign news focused on Korea due to the surge of the number of the cases, Korea has been paid attention as an example of quarantine system.

In an article released on March 11, the France24 reported on the way of response for the virus in Korea and emphasized that the Korea’s method could be a model for the countries battling against the COVID-19 with experts’ opinions. According to the report, the methods including transparent disclosure of information and massive diagnostic tests have been effective to contain the spread of virus.

United Kingdom <BBC> March 12

The Korean diagnostic test is the most reliable with 98 percents of accuracy. Korea is developing the vaccine faster than any other countries with the massive test samples.

South Korea is being asked for provision of the diagnostic kits by more than 120 countries around the world.
U.S. President Trump spoke on the phone with Korean president and asked for help.

Hasty optimism should be cautious, but the successful experience can be shared.

Foreign media have requested for coverage about the epidemiological investigation system in Korea, which has played a key role to contain the COVID-19. The Korean government held an online press briefing (April 10) and 77 news agencies attended from various countries including U.S., Spain, Denmark, Russia, France, Japan, Singapore, etc.

“If needed, we would like to share our technology with the world for the humanity to move forward together. The technology of the system can be revised and used to deal with the other urban problems or urgent national disasters.”

On the same day, Bill Gates (the president of The Gates Foundation) suggested to the Korean government to cooperate for development of the vaccines and treatments for the COVID-19.

“Before the call, I searched for the development process of the vaccines and treatments in Korea. I hope to cooperate with Korea to accelerate its development.

“I respect that Korea supports the diagnostic kits to the developing countries.”

“The fact that Korea provides the kits to various countries shows their success in responding to COVID-19.”

(Hankook Ilbo, April 10, President MoonㆍBill Gates cooperate to develop treatments for COVID-19)

The experiences can be shared through exchanges between countries.

If entrepreneurs fail to continue their exchanges, bilateral economic and trade activities would be shut down, which could return to the difficulties of both citizens.

Unfortunately, the emotional misunderstanding has been triggered between both citizens, breaking their friendship for 25 years in the reports on COVID-19.

The opportunities for development between both countries are getting further away, while we are blaming each other due to misunderstanding.

There are many tasks to solve together.

What about the hatred of Asian in Europe?

Would you ignore the discrimination? We are the Asians.

What about the future of the Korean-Vietnamese children?
Korea and Vietnam have many tasks to solve together.

Did you know about the great history that the youth of Korea and Vietnam fought for their lives against imperialism?

In 1919, Korean independence activists helped Ho Chi Minh’s independence movement in Paris, France, and vice versa.
A great history of Korean and Vietnamese youth helping each other to overcome the difficulties 100 years ago, that is the present we are living now.

Cooperation 100 years ago, 25 years of friendship, 100 years of our future generations?
Would you stop preparing for the future due to the virus?

VANK, a cyber diplomatic mission in South Korea, is implementing a global campaign against racism among Asians around the world.

The tragedy of Auschwitz began with hatred and the war crimes committed by Nazi like the Holocaust started from racism. Therefore, if we do not stop the crimes of racial hatred and discrimination around the world caused by the COVID-19, a second Holocaust tragedy could come back to humanity.

Since the COVID-19 started, hate crimes and racial discrimination against Asians have spread around the world, including the Americas and Europe.

Not only Chinese but also Koreans, Japanese, and Southeast Asians are being discriminated against or hated in the Americas and Europe.

Around the world, Asians are subjected to racist words and physical assault on the street without any reason, and also students are banned from the schools and forced to transfer to another school.

Asians are treated as a virus that carries the disease of death just because they are Asians, and also are targeted for hate crimes such as racist words and physical attack.

The U.S.-based Asia Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON) has created a website of Stop American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Hate to deal with the violence and crimes against Asians that have increased since the recent coronavirus outbreak.

On April 15, they said that more than 1,500 cases have been reported through the website since mid-March.

<Stop AAPI, the website that reports hate crimes and discrimination>
– http://www.asianpacificpolicyandplanningcouncil.org/stop-aapi-hate

Even in New York, an Asian woman was attacked by hydrochloric acid.

On April 23, John Cho, a Korean-American Hollywood actor, criticized the racial discrimination and hate crimes against Asians in the United States, triggered by the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

In an article in the Los Angeles Times (LAT), he called for the eradication of racism caused by COVID-19, saying that Asian Americans are not conditional Americans, but fellow Americans.

“Infectious diseases remind us that our Asian community is conditional,” he said. “For one moment, we are Americans, but then we become foreigners who spread the virus.”

“Don’t reduce or think of the hatred phenomena against Asian as far away. It’s happening close to you,” he added. “If you see it on the street and hear it at work, please stand up for your colleague, the American.”

On April 26, a Korean couple was subjected to racial discrimination, sexual harassment and assault on a subway couch in Berlin, the capital of Germany. The problem is that the German police, who are supposed to handle the racist crimes, are passively responding to the case. Due to this, the number of racial discrimination and crimes such as swearing and assault on Asian communities has not reduced.

COVID-19 is not the only one that humans have to fight. We need to make an efforts to solve the problems of racism against Asian in the world.

To respond with this, VANK, a Korean cyber diplomatic mission, is fighting racism against Asian, triggered by COVID-19.

To do this, the VANK is launching a global campaign to make five of anti-racism posters and spread them around the world through social media. The slogan of the campaign is “Holocaust did not suddenly fall from the sky!”

Four of the five posters made by the VANK show a primary school student as a symbol of the next generation, carrying the balloon with messages of ‘Corona virus rumors, Hatred of Asians, and Racial discrimination, Remember how holocaust had begun. Holocaust did not fall suddenly from the skies’ with a background of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

In addition, the other poster shows a monument that the messages of ‘Corona virus rumors, Hatred of Asians, and Racial discrimination, Remember how holocaust had begun. Holocaust did not fall suddenly from the skies’ are written, with another monument to commemorate the tragedy of Nazi and Holocaust and not to be repeated again.

Originally, there was no such phrase in the monument, but the VANK virtually put it on the poster to contain a warning message that the second Holocaust tragedy could happen if it is failed to prevent the spread of racism caused by COVID-19.

The worst war crimes in humankind history, in which around 17 million people were killed by the Nazi, began with racial discrimination. The tragedy of Auschwitz, in which more than a million people were killed for no reason, also began with discrimination, hatred and oppression.

We have to prevent the racial and xenophobic crimes that have led to the Holocaust and Auschwitz from appearing again with the spread of infectious diseases in the 21st century.

Please join the VANK’s global campaign and change the world!

The VANK is spreading the campaign posters to the world through a photo-sharing website, Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vank1999/albums/7215771316634382).
Those who want to participate in the campaign can download the five posters and upload them on their social media.

On April 5, an U.S. magazine, Forbes reported on a firm Seegene from South Korea, who developed the diagnostic test kits for COVID-19 and its executive Chun Jong-yoon. Based on the report, on December 31, the first news reached South Korea of a cluster of coronavirus infections in Wuhan. Seegene’s chief executive Chun Jong-yoon was already anticipating the worst, as the risk of a global outbreak was high. Chun immediately ceased all other work at his Seoul-based biotech firm, Seegene, and ordered his lead researcher and staff to focus entirely on producing a diagnostic kit for the Covid-19. “Development needed to be very fast,” Chun says. “Before the situation became more serious, we had to be prepared.”

In two weeks Seegene had developed its test and got approved for the use on February 12 from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Such go-aheads typically take at least six months; European health authorities gave approval five days earlier. “It was an urgent matter so it was important to respond quickly,” Chun says. “The fact that the KCDC approved this in two weeks was unprecedented.”

It was the availability of Seegene’s test kits, along with the government’s rapid response to do massive testing and other measures, that helped South Korea contain the spread of Covid-19. In a country of 51 million, South Korea has recorded less than 10,000 cases, below the figure for Switzerland, with a population of 8.6 million.

Previously producing 100,000 tests per week, the firm says its capacity has risen to 1 million tests. It has tests going to 40 countries including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and countries around Asia; it submitted the test to the U.S. and is awaiting approval from the FDA. With infections still spreading worldwide, Seegene is now preparing to ramp up production even more.

“Right now we are stopping everything else and putting all our effort into producing the kits,” Chun says. “The demand from governments and medical agencies has been overwhelming. We could potentially supply as much as 3 million test kits per week.

But if there is still a shortage, we could provide the expertise [for others] to develop the kit for free. We have that intention,” he says. “The virus shouldn’t spread due to limitations in testing.”

Seegene’s test resides in a single test tube, where it identifies three target genes present in Covid-19. Because it streamlines the testing process, it takes a tenth the time of manual tests and reduces the risk of human error in diagnosis.

Such molecular diagnostics—in contrast to older immunodiagnostics—are faster and more accurate, Chun says. It also means people infected with Covid-19 can be spotted before they show any symptoms.

Becasue of the fast development of the kits by the Seegene and the fast approval for the use by the KCDC, it is possible to the massive test for the COVID-19 in South Korea. This shows that the government and private companies share a sense of crisis caused by the COVID-19 and cooperate with each other while doing their best to overcome the crisis in their respective positions.

I am an American that’s been teaching in South Korea for one year now, and this week marks one month of living within the restrictions of the pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19. While all citizens are on high alert, I’ll admit that it feels like life hasn’t changed drastically for us here in Korea. Nationwide testing, transparent and frequent government updates, free healthcare for all affected and an overall sense of community responsibility has prevented me from feeling like my world has turned upside down.

Everywhere I go, I see posters and commercials — translated into multiple languages — reminding people to wash their hands, cover their mouths, and call the national emergency hotline if they are experiencing symptoms. When you call the hotline, you can arrange transport to a testing facility to avoid public transportation. If you test positive for the virus, your treatment is free, regardless of your immigration status. These are just examples of the efficient and swift changes in the way this country operates that has made the situation feel less overwhelming.

Temperature scanners were placed in major shopping centers for anyone to use. There is hand sanitizer available in nearly every elevator and store entrance, and public transportation is regularly sanitized. A mask rationing system was created to make sure everyone has the chance to buy them. Navigation apps, like one that I use called KakaoMaps, even added a mask search feature, to help people find which stores have them in stock.

It’s rare to see people on the streets without protective face masks. Korean officials have advised us to wear masks in public, since many carriers of the virus may be asymptomatic, unsure if they are sick just yet.

Life here is a little different now, but thanks to the majority of citizens following health guidelines, it hasn’t come to a halt. Major festivals and gatherings have been postponed, but many restaurants, entertainment venues and public spaces are still open. If it has been confirmed that an infected person has visited one of these places, we receive an alert and the business is promptly closed for sanitation.

The images of nurses fighting against COVID-19 in Daegu, South Korea has touched people all over the world.

In an article titled ‘S. Korean nurses’ bandages become badges of honour’ on March 13, AFP, France’s largest news agency, introduced 15 South Korean nurses smiling inside their masks while fighting against COVID-19 at the forefront.

The showed people in the article are nurses from the Dongsan Hospital in Daegu, the most affected city by COVID-19.

The nurse in the picture is wearing protective gear for a long time while taking care of patients, and thus, their face is full of scars.

People all over the world have encouraged that “South Korean nurses’ bandages” are the brightest in this batte against COVID-19.

In the hospital, there are about 200 nurses working in eight-hour shift, half of whom are volunteers.

AFP praised that the bandage of nurses’ faces is a sign of commitment to the struggle between life and death.

ABC News of the United States said in an article on February 24 that “Daegu, the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in South Korea, is becoming a good example of its resolution.”

“There is no panic, no chaos, no hatred in Daegu in South Korea,” said reporter Ian from ABC News. “It’s calm and quiet,” he said. “They will be a model of life for many people who are just facing the spread of COVID-19.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency on 13th of March over the spread of COVID-19.

After that, there is a lot of hoarding in the U.S. such as toilet paper and groceries.

US citizens are rushing into the supermarkets early in the morning to buy daily products, and TV news shows empty shelves in every corner of the market.

The hoarding is caused by a sense of fear that the emergency situation could result in the loss of items.

It is getting chaotic due to the anxiety caused by the COVID-19 not only in the U.S., but also in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

In this situation, Koreans’ calm response to the crisis of COVID-19 is being internationally recognized by foreign media, which is deeply moving to people all over the world.

Foreign media are impressed by the fact that Koreans, suffering from COVID-19, voluntarily donate goods and do volunteer works for people in need without hoarding or chaos.

A minute and 51 seconds of video posted on Youtube by ABC News on March 14 is making headlines around the world.

This video, which is called ‘Volunteers in South Korea deliver boxes of food to people in self-quarantined people’, is introducing Korean youth volunteer workers who deliver the daily products to those under self-quarantine.

The video shows that the youth volunteers deliver 2000 boxes of products to the self-quarantined people in their neighborhood. Even, they have delivered 15,000 boxes to Daegu, where is the most affected city in South Korea.

The box contains the items that would be most needed for self-quarantined people such as local specialties like apples and pears, and healthy foods, which is worth approximately 100,000won($82 dollars) in total.

Most of all, people all over the world are moved by the Korean youth doing volunteer work.

Hundreds of thousands of people have watched the video for just a few days and there are over 1,000 comments.

“We fight over even a toilet paper, but Korea has no hoarding.”

“The difference between us and them is that we were fighting over toilet paper while they were helping each other.”

“Crisis draws out the best and the worst aspects of the society. Let’s remember who would be an amazing country when the crisis will be over.”

“This is really the level of detail that should be the norm all over the world. I wish other countries would do this much.”

“South Korea has historically been united to overcome national difficulties. They are smart nations with a kind heart.”

“Watching this video, my heart is moving and my eyes are teary. It’s the best human kindness.”
Many foreigners around the world praised Korea’s young volunteers for showing the love for their neighbors instead of showing selfishness and hatred under the situation of South Korea to fight against COVID-19.