The campaign for sending books in Korean has been given a shot in the arm with a forum to spur the movement held at the National Assembly Library Grand Hall on April 3 with many experts participating in the event. The purpose of the forum is to send Korean books to the descendants of Koreans who emigrated to foreign countries a long time ago so that they can understand and learn the culture of their ancestors, and Korean books in Hangul is the most effective way for them to do so.

Chairman Sohn Seok-woo of the Council for the Campaign 

for Sending Korean Books to Overseas Koreans.

The Council for the Camp-aign for Sending Korean Books to Overseas Koreans chaired by Chairman Sohn Seok-woo and the Parliamentarians Society of the Republic of Korea headed by Chairman Mok Yo-sang jointed hosted the forum with the main theme of “A Policy Forum for the Ways to Vitalize Sending Korean Books to Overseas Koreans,” at the National Assem-bly Library Grand Hall, during which they discussed such matters as the easiest and most effective means for overseas Korean descendants to get hold of Korean books and read them in the Korean language and understand those books.

A group of dignitaries at the forum organized by the Council for the Campaign to Send Korean Books to Overseas Koreans is seen in this photo include Chairman Sohn Seok-woo, Chairman Mok Yo-sang of the Parliamentarians Society of the Republic of Korea, Rep. Ahn Hoong-joon, chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, and Senior Manager Kim Jin-hyung of the Yonhap News Korean Race Center and Chi Seong-jin, director of Korean Society in Orange County, California, the United States, among others.

President Kim Joong-sup of Kyunghee University officiated the forum with Kyung hee University Professor Cho Hyun-yong, who is vice president of the Kyunghee University International Education Institute, and Lee Joon-ho, who is in charge of the Cultural Exchange with Bergen County in the United States presenting their papers on the themes of “The Education of Overseas Koreans and Book Sending Campaign” and “The Ways to Vitalize the Identities of Overseas Koreans.” The members of the panel included Kim Jin-hyung, Head Manager of the Yonhap News Korean Race Center; President Choi Il-do of the Da-il Common Identity; Chi Seong-jin, director of the Korean Society in Orange County, California, the United States; Professor Anna Sun of Songshin Women’s University; Professor Lee Yong-mun of Dongwoo University; and Representative Huh Duk-hwa of the Choseon Book Store in Yianbian, China.

President Oh Chung-sook(Elizabeth M. Oh) of NewsWorld, said it would help very much for those second and third generations of overseas Koreans who don’t understand Korean if they can have English books on Korea sent to them.

In this photo are President Oh Chung-sook(Elizabeth M. Oh) of NewsWorld and Chairman Sohn Seok-woo of the Council for the Campaign for Sending Korean Books to Overseas Koreans and Chairman Mok Yoh-sang of the Parliamentarians Society of the Republic of Korea among the dignitaries attending the Forum for Campaign for Sending Books to Overseas Koreans held on April 3 at the National Assemblty Library Grand Hall.

The participants included Chairman Sohn; Chairman Mok; former legislator Lee Pil-woo; Rep. Ahn Hung-joon, chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee; Senior Vice Chairman Kim Seong-gon of the World Korean Democracy Council of the Democratic Party; Chairman Cho Kyu-hyung of the Overseas Koreans Foundation; and former Minister Lee Min-sup of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, who all have a great interest in the subject of sending Korean books to overseas Koreans.

Chairman Sohn said he first learned how important it is to send Korean books overseas to help those overseas Koreans connect with their mother country when he visited a library with empty bookshelves in Brazil. “By sending Korean books to the second and third generations of Koreans spread around many countries abroad who are losing the Korean culture, we can help them to understand the Korean spirit and culture and tell them around the world what Korea is about, truly a valuable role they can play for their mother country,” the chairman said.

The Council for the Campaign for Sending Books to Overseas Koreans sent some 1 million books to every nook and corner of the world and to isolated villages in Korea in the past 14 years of its operation to tell the overseas Koreans in particular the excellence of the Korean language and its value.