The Asia Foundation Delivers Personal Initiative Training Program to Support North Korean Refugee Entrepreneurs

December 20, 2022 - With generous support from Aesop Foundation and Charities Aid Foundation, The Asia Foundation successfully delivered a 'Personal Initiative (PI) Training' to 11 current and aspiring North Korean refugee (NKR) entrepreneurs in South Korea. The goal of the program was to build and empower an entrepreneurial mindset, which is especially critical for NKRs to survive and thrive as entrepreneurs in a market-based economy, an environment that is unfamiliar compared to their South Korean peers. The training was mainly led by an NKR entrepreneur trained through the Foundation's PI Training-of-Trainer program in 2021. The three-week, full-day program, composed of lectures, facilitated group discussions, and hands-on projects, constantly challenged its participants to think about their personal initiative as business owners. Through such repeated exercises, each training session aimed to empower the participants to be more self-starting, future thinking, a..

News

December 20, 2022

The Women's News, Dailian, Seoul Economic Daily, The Financial News and Aju Business Daily Reported on a Forum on Women Entrepreneurs in Gyeonggi Province

The Asia Foundation Korea Office organized a forum on women entrepreneurs in Gyeonggi Province on November 22, 2022 as a part of the Accelerate Women’s Entrepreneurship in Korea Phase II program. The Women's News, Dailian, Seoul Economic Daily, The Financial News and Aju Business Daily reported on the forum. Please click the links below to see the full news article (in Korean). <The Women’s News> Title: 경기 여성기업가 한 자리에…“여성 기업 활동에 대한 인식 개선해야” Date: November 22, 2022 Link: https://www.womennews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=230006 Title: 현직 여성 CEO의 조언 “남성 중심 기업 문화 속에서 여성 연대 길러라” Date: November 22, 2022 Link: http://www.womennews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=230012 Title: 아시아재단 '경기도 여성기업가에게 힘을 싣다' 토론회 개최 ..

Media Coverage

December 12, 2022

Raising Public Awareness of Women Entrepreneurs in Gyeonggi Province

November 24, 2022 - The Asia Foundation successfully organized a forum entitled "Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Gyeonggi Province" on November 22, 2022. The forum provided a venue where women entrepreneurs can share their difficulties, stories, and successful cases and discuss possible measures to enhance the women's entrepreneurship ecosystem with various stakeholders from business support organizations, think tanks, NGOs, and private entities. Fifty-six people attended, which proved the high interest of stakeholders in women entrepreneurs in Gyeonggi province. The keynote speaker, Kim Borye, senior researcher at the Women Economic Research Institute, remarked that women-owned enterprises contribute to women's economic participation as they tend to hire women employees more. She also proposed new programs based on the regional characteristics of Gyeonggi province, education to foster women's entrepreneurship, and increasing public awareness of women's entrepreneurship as..

News

November 24, 2022

Mongolian Delegation's Study Visit to Korea for Prevention of Violence Against Women and Support for Victims in Mongolia

October 18, 2022 - From October 4 to 9, 2022, The Asia Foundation's Korea office hosted a seven-member delegation from the Mongolian government and NGO on preventing violence against women and supporting programs for victims. This study visit aimed to learn about Korea's policies on gender-based violence and support programs for the victims. The delegation comprised government officials from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs, and NGO workers from the Mongolian Gender Equality Center. They visited the various Korean organizations related to the policy and support services for preventing violence against women, including the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, the Seoul Sunflower Center, and the Teen-up Center. Through this study visit, the Mongolian delegation had a valuable opportunity to comprehensively examine the government and civil society&..

News

October 18, 2022

Exploring American Values Exchange Program: Korean social media influencers visit the US

September 30, 2022 - The Asia Foundation implemented the Exploring American Values Exchange Program from August 4 - 20, 2022, with funding from the US Embassy in Seoul, Korea. A 13-member delegation consisted of an eclectic mix of Korean social media influencers and content creators active on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, with audiences ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of followers. The delegates travelled to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and New York. They met with a diverse group of influencers, civil society leaders, political and community leaders, students and educators, business leaders, and others working to define and shape American society today. Upon return to Korea, the 13 participants created video content from their experience from the visit to the US. The Participants' video content underwent selected judges' review for awards. The participants' Post-debriefing Session and Awards Ceremony wer..

News

September 30, 2022

Scholarship for North Korean Refugee Students' Preparation for a Sustainable Settlement in Korea

September 16, 2022 - With generous support from the Stephen & Maria Kahng Foundation, The Asia Foundation provided a scholarship for the cost of living for North Korean Refugee undergraduate and graduate students. Most North Korean refugees encounter economic difficulties in the competitive South Korean society. Financial support allows refugees to focus on education and building the skills they need to make a living and settle in South Korea. Through intensive document screening and interviews, 12 undergraduates (10 female and two male students) and three graduate school students (one female and two male students) from various universities, including Seoul National University, Ewha Womans University, and Dongguk University, were selected as scholars for the fall semester of 2022. The scholars will need to achieve a certain level of academic score to continue with the scholarship in the following spring semester of 2023. The scholarship will help scholars to focus on thei..

News

September 16, 2022

The Asia Foundation Awards Winners of Business Competition for North Korea-related Entrepreneurs

September 2, 2022 - The Asia Foundation successfully hosted Business Competition for North Korea-related Entrepreneurs and awarded a total of 10 million KRW to three competition winners. The competition was organized to support access to finance for North Korea-related businesses led by a North Korean refugee or positively impact the North Korean refugee community through its business model or operations. Among a large pool of applicants, The Asia Foundation went through two selection rounds to select the winners with the highest potential for business and social impact for the North Korean refugee community. The first round was a document screening process to assess the business model and competitive advantage by an internal selection committee. The second round was an in-person IR presentation to a group of actual investors from venture capital and development banks who the Foundation invited. The external judges provided an objective evaluation for the presenters and shared expert feedback and advice to help the ..

News

September 02, 2022

Podcast Interview on South Korea's Paradox in Han River

John Rieger and Tracie Yang interview Kwang Kim on his recent Korea Herald series on "The Paradox in the Han River". This has been featured in InAsia, the Asia Foundation's podcast channel. In the podcast, Kwang notes: " A new Korean social contract is needed based on growth, democracy, and mutuality ". Click the link here to access the full Podcast and the Blog Article: https://asiafoundation.org/2022/08/31/south-korea-the-paradox-on-the-han-river/ * Photo Credits: Shutterstock / stock for you

News

September 01, 2022

[Newsletter] Summer 2022

The Summer edition of The Asia Foundation Korea is here! Please check our latest news. Towards a More Inclusive Growth Model in Asia: A Groundbreaking Research Collaboration With the Economics of Mutuality Foundation and Other Global Partners The Asia Foundation's Economics Program and the Korea Office, Economics of Mutuality Foundation, Hanyang University, and Erasmus University of Rotterdam launched a multi-year and multi-country research collaboration on inclusive growth models. ..

Newsletter

August 31, 2022