Unheard Stories from Pen-pals

The country with the fastest internet speed
The country with the highest broadband penetration rate among OECD nations
“IT Powerhouse, Korea”

“Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I will move the world.”
- Archimedes

In the 21st century, young Koreans are given the lever: the internet. Internet pen-pal is a cyber diplomatic activity that can bring changes to the world.

Let us present our international experiences through our pen-pal friends

Would you like to say hello to my friends?

I have a friend in the country of diamonds, Sierra Leone in Africa.
And in the country of coffee, Colombia in South America
Also, in the country with the highest happiness index ranking, Bhutan in Asia
I am a ‘cyber pen-pal ambassador’, who has many friends across the world.

I visited the French city of Saint-Malo to see my pen-pal friend. Through my friend, I became attracted to European culture, which I once felt was so distant.

My Arabic friend broke all my stereotypes about the Arab world. She introduced me to the real Arabic culture.

The only thing I knew about Indonesia was Bali, a famous tourist destination. My Indonesian friend told me a lot of interesting stories about Indonesia.

From my Thai friend, I learned about the Thai royal family. 
Through my Czech friend, I saw a picture of a beautiful lake in Czech during winter.
My Emirati friend sent me a picture of camels in the United Arab Emirates.

Thanks my many pen-pals, I learned that McDonalds localizes their menus in each country. My pen-pals enabled me to experience many different cultures across the world. 

Some of their stories were sad.
Here are some stories that I had never heard before.

Due to its oil reserves, Libya attracts a large amount of interest among international investors. Libya recently experienced bloody battle. My Libyan friend lost his parents and sister. Through him, I learned about the suffering of ordinary people on the battlefield. 

Ethiopia is the country where coffee was first discovered. It sent 3,517 soldiers to Korea during the Korean War. Today, Ethiopia is a poverty-ridden country where we are familiar with the images of starving children. I have a friend in Ethiopia who is my age. He had to give up his dreams due to poverty.

Also, there is Zimbabwe where the Vitoria Falls is located. The Victoria Falls is recognized as one of the world’s three most remarkable waterfalls.

Despite being in Zimbabwe, it was named after the British monarch, Queen Victoria. Zimbabwe was a former British colony. My Zimbabwean friend told me that its original name is Mosi-oa-Tunya.

From her, I learned about the suffering of her country, which shares a similar history to Korea.

Korea’s neighbor Japan is well known for sushi and kimono. Japan was struck by a massive tsunami and a powerful earthquake, which resulted in huge casualties. 

I received an email from my Japanese pen-pal.
“I am okay. Don’t worry.”

From her, I heard how disastrous it was. I made a small donation for the victims. Somewhere in the world, there are always people suffering.

We need to listen to these unheard voices.
VANK members will take the lead.
We don’t care about their skin color or the status of their country. 

We will listen to what our friends have to say. We recognize that there is an important step to make before promoting our own country.

Build friendships with pen-pals through the internet, the world’s longest yet closest network.

Become their sincere friends first!

10 years …
20 years …
We will …

We will initiate friendships in a humble manner. 
We will approach and listen to them.
We will offer helping hands.

That is the kind of global leader we want to be.

As citizen diplomats, we will create a global human network. Through the network, we will earn sincere respect for our country. Our global friends will become great supporters of Korea.

In the 1950s, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world.
Korea’s GDP per capita was only $87.
Korea was poorer than many African countries.

However, Koreans concentrated all their effort to create an economic miracle in a half century. Korea became a member of the OECD, the group of advanced countries.

Korea is now an economic power with its GDP ranked 15th (2010) in the world. We understand the economic and historical suffering of developing countries. We will approach them, and tell our encouraging stories.

We will also listen to their untold stories.
Through pen-pal correspondence, we can make friends across the world.

YOU are our friends.