Canada embassy starts ‘informal’ Korean blog
Published: 17 May. 2010, 21:55
The Canadian Embassy in Korea launched an official Korean-language blog (http://canadablog.tistory.com) last month.
Posts are organized into three categories: Canadian culture, reports on past events for Canadians living in Korea and issues that Canada considers important.
Recent topics of emphasis include the G-20, eco-friendly industry and free trade agreement negotiations between Korea and Canada, according to Kim Min-a, an advocacy public affair officer at the Canadian Embassy, in a telephone interview. The blog’s five editors are all university students who were selected last March from among about 100 applicants.
Kim said they felt existing lines of communication - the Web site and newsletter - were too formal to reach the general public on a regular basis. They wanted something new to provide informal, enjoyable access to information.
As a result, the embassy decided to open a blog to encourage interaction with the local community.
“Despite the disadvantages [of running a blog], we wanted to do so, since there are still more benefits,” Kim said.
“Our ambassador [Ted Lipman] likes new technology. It was because of the ambassador’s great interest and at his request that we launched this blog,” Kim said. “We believe that it will help the public to approach unfamiliar issues related to Canada in a more effective and friendly way.”
There are even plans to create a section in which the ambassador can post, as he is fluent in Korean, according to Kim.
It wouldn’t be an unprecedented move. The British and U.S. embassies in Korea also have their own blogs on which the respective ambassadors sometimes directly post stories that they want to communicate to the Korean public.
By Suh Yun-young Contributing Writer [[email protected]]
Posts are organized into three categories: Canadian culture, reports on past events for Canadians living in Korea and issues that Canada considers important.
Recent topics of emphasis include the G-20, eco-friendly industry and free trade agreement negotiations between Korea and Canada, according to Kim Min-a, an advocacy public affair officer at the Canadian Embassy, in a telephone interview. The blog’s five editors are all university students who were selected last March from among about 100 applicants.
Kim said they felt existing lines of communication - the Web site and newsletter - were too formal to reach the general public on a regular basis. They wanted something new to provide informal, enjoyable access to information.
As a result, the embassy decided to open a blog to encourage interaction with the local community.
“Despite the disadvantages [of running a blog], we wanted to do so, since there are still more benefits,” Kim said.
“Our ambassador [Ted Lipman] likes new technology. It was because of the ambassador’s great interest and at his request that we launched this blog,” Kim said. “We believe that it will help the public to approach unfamiliar issues related to Canada in a more effective and friendly way.”
There are even plans to create a section in which the ambassador can post, as he is fluent in Korean, according to Kim.
It wouldn’t be an unprecedented move. The British and U.S. embassies in Korea also have their own blogs on which the respective ambassadors sometimes directly post stories that they want to communicate to the Korean public.
By Suh Yun-young Contributing Writer [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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