Ambassador’s message – September 17th

“I am delighted to inform you that the Government of Ireland has approved €200,000 in support of the World Food Programme’s continuing operations in the DPRK. This is a significant contribution to the WFP’s feeding operation in North Korea, which provides vital nutritional support to women and children in eighty-nine counties in nine provinces. As you may recall from my message last May, during our visit to the DPRK, my wife and I saw at first hand the young beneficiaries of the WFP programme; the provision of essential micro-nutrients help them develop normally despite the chronic malnutrition that is so widespread in North Korea.

You may also recall that the Irish NGO Concern is operating in the DPRK (see www.concern.net ). Its programme is focused centres of excellence for testing and sharing new techniques to improve agricultural methods, mitigate problems (like soil erosion and poor fertiliser), improve yields and enhance nutritional returns on crops. It is also working on water sanitation systems and solar pumping for clean water distribution.  The Irish Government, through the Irish Aid Civil Society programme, is providing €400,000 this year to Concern’s operation in the DPRK.  The EU also supports Concern’s projects in the DPRK.

One of the UN’s great recent innovations in emergency relief was the creation of the Central Emergency Relief Fund or CERF in 2006.  Its purpose is two-fold:  to provide rapid funding for sudden onset emergencies through grants and loans (facilities of $450m and $30m respectively) and to grant-aid under-funded emergencies (see www.unocha.org/cerf ).  The UN has made some $13 million available so far this year to agencies operating in the DPRK via the CERF.

When I was in Pyongyang last August I attended the inter-agency meeting of UN and NGO organisations.  The value of the CERF was widely acknowledged at the meeting.  The CERF is the third way in which the Irish Government supports humanitarian relief in the DPRK. Since its inception, Ireland has been a strong supporter: Ireland has contributed $115m to the CERF since its establishment.  Ireland’s 2012 allocation to the CERF is €4 million.

The Irish public continues to support the Irish Aid programme, despite our fiscal and financial challenges.  Opinion polls suggest support of 85% .  Indeed, almost 80% believe that Ireland should try to reach its aid target of 0.7% of GNP by 2015, one of the key UN Millennium Development Goals.  Currently our aid budget is €670m, down from €921m in 2008 but still a significant 0.5% of GNP.

For more information, see www.irishaid.gov.ie where you can also download Irish Aid’s 2011 Annual Report, which has just been released.

Best wishes,
Eamonn

Eamonn McKee
Ambassador”

Ambassador’s message – September 7th

“As we pivot into autumn and summer becomes a memory, I hope you had a good break, whether that involved holidaying in Korea, taking a vacation nearby or, best of all, enjoying a break in Ireland. Before visiting family in the US, I took some time to hike part of the Kerry Way with my son, starting on a glorious day at Waterville. The weather did not keep up over following days but even with cloud overhead, Kerry is beautiful. Between hostelries along the way and Bed and Breakfasts at day’s end, it was a wonderful experience.

Returning from familiar settings reminds me that living far away from home can be a stressful experience as well as enjoyable and exciting. Many us living wihout our networks of family and long-term friends and well known professionals close-by have times when we’d like to speak to someone independent about the issues we are facing and how they are making us feel without having to deal with differences of cultural background.

A service established in July 2011 provides just this space. The Irish Online Counselling and Psychotherapy Service will arrange to speak to Irish people living abroad online through instant messaging, telephone and Skype. They are available outside Irish office hours and they are already speaking to Irish people all over the world. Further information is available at http://www.counsellingonline.ie/ and http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/generationemigration/2012/08/01/providing-support-beyond-the-departure-gates/.

I thought you might be interested in some catch up about the things that are on our radar screens here at the Embassy.

The Irish Association of Korea is hosting its second autumn Céilí at D-Cube Plaza, Shindorim. Last year’s event was wonderful with Irish music and dancing in the amphitheatre there and great facilities and shops in the adjacent shopping mall. If you are free, please join us on Saturday 15 September next, between 1pm and 5pm.

Ireland continues to make progress in terms of meeting its targets under the EC/ECB/IMF programme. Revenue remains on course and our underlying budget deficit is decreasing, though payments in response to the banking crisis continue to be a major burden. As a measure of increase confidence in our recovery, the National Treasury Management Agency returned to the markets with a bond offer last July. This generated strong investor demand with commitments of €5.23 billion.

A full return to the international bond market depends on resolving the crisis in the Eurozone because only that will definitively lower bond yields. Confidence in the Euro has been boosted considerably this week by the announcement by the ECB of using unlimited monetary resources to support the bond market. That the ECB’s council of central bankers agreed to this yesterday, with the support of EU leaders, indicates a new level of determination to protect and preserve the Euro. Markets have already rallied and the Euro strengthened. The key is to sustain this confidence. This and a return of demand in Europe will greatly boost growth prospects in exporting countries like Ireland and Korea.

Ireland does not export natural resources like Russia and the Middle East. Our exports are not based on commodities like South American economies. We offer an educated, talented and flexible workforce, combined with a low rate of tax at 12.5% on trading profits and an excellent business environment that is competitive and facilitates enterprise. In short, we trade on our reputation as a place to invest, to do business and to live.

It was important therefore that Ireland has steadily improved its reputation. According to a recent survey of public opinion within the top G8 countries, our ranking as a reputable country has improved from 17th to 15th (Canada ranked first, Iraq last.) We were 11th in three previous studies and so we have a ways to go but we are moving in the right direction. For more information, visit http://www.corporatereputations.ie.

Here in Seoul, we will have a unique platform to highlight Ireland’s road to recovery and the future of the Eurozone when former Taoiseach John Bruton addresses the 13th World Knowledge Forum on 10th October next. The forum, organised by the Maeil Media Group whose daily business newspaper is the fourth largest in the world by circulation, convenes some 3,000 leaders, policy makers and academics for presentations and discussions.

While the Foreign Direct Investment sector in Ireland has driven our growth since the 1960s and comprises the bulk of our exports, Ireland does have a vigorous indigenous sector and I will profile some of our leading exporters over the coming months. I am often asked, for example, what does Ireland export to Korea? I will look at some of those stories but also further a-field to give you a sense of Ireland’s economic future from the perspective of our entrepreneurs.

Have a good weekend,
Best wishes,
Eamonn

Eamonn McKee
Ambassador

Ambassador’s Message, 25 March 2012 – visit to DPRK

“I thought you might be interested in my visit last week to the DPRK to which I am accredited as Ambassador.  My wife Mary accompanied me.   Pyongyang, the capital and showcase city, looked well in the May sunshine, manicured and spruced up with particular attention because of the 15^th April centennial celebration of the birth of Kim Il-sung.  There were plenty of cars in evidence, a bustle about the streets adjacent to our hotel, mobile phones in use and fashionable accessories to be seen.

We were particularly interested to get outside the city to see the countryside immediately to the north and to the south of the capital and we able to do so thanks to the World Food Programme (WFP) and our own NGO, Concern, which is operating EU programmes there.

WFP
To reach the WFP project, we drove north from Pyongyang to Phyongsong city.  The fields were busy with people actively planting rice or tilling fields.  Despite intensive cultivation and the hard work of the people, however, the food gap remains around one million metric tons of cereals each year.

The WFP programme in Phyongsong city, the capital of South Pyongan Province (pop. 4 million) centers on creating a food mixture rich in essential micronutrients and proteins.  It targets the most vulnerable and is distributed to orphanages (baby homes, child centers, boarding schools), hospitals, nurseries, kindergartens.  The WFP operates in 12 of the 21 counties in South Pyongan Province (and some 114 countries overall in the DPRK).  Between April 2011 and May of this year, the WFP provided 1,531 metric tons of food aid to 43,904 beneficiaries in Phyongsong city, mainly to nurseries, pregnant/lactating mothers, kindergartens and primary schools.  Its milk, cereal, corn, soy and rice blends help prevent permanent physical and intellectual damage due to chronic malnutrition (the stunting rate is about 32% nationally).

Because of the relatively better harvest in 2011, the current Emergency Programme will probably be replaced by a Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation in July 2012, with somewhat reduced coverage from 3.5 million vulnerable recipients to in the region of 2.5 million people.

The WFP expressed its appreciation for Ireland’s contribution last year to its programme in the DPRK of $3.6m.  This included a direct contribution of $356,125 by Irish Aid that was used to procure 770 metric tons of wheat.  The WFP DPRK programme also received multilateral funding of $3,252,800 from Ireland that was used to purchase vegetable oil, sugar and dried skimmed milk, key ingredients in the blended foods.

Our first stop was Phyongsong Paediatric Hospital.  Young patients there were being treated for water-borne gastric problems which are prevalent (the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF, de-worms all the children twice a year in the 118 counties they cover).  International agencies, notably the WHO and UNICEF, provide medicines for about 10m of the total population of 24m.

Our next stop was at an orphanage for toddlers, ranked along two long balconies in the courtyard wearing identical pink pyjamas and waving excitedly as we arrived (shouting the Korean equivalent of Daddy! Daddy!)  Joyful and curious, they were particularly excited to be shown their photos on our camera’s LCD screen.  They receive daily the enriched WFP food that ensures essential nutrients for the crucial first years of life.

Our final stop was at the Cereal Milk factory where WFP supplies are mixed and bagged for distribution in an operation that was clean, busy and currently well stocked. The WFP is confident that monitoring arrangements are effective. The official with us said that they had come not encountered examples of diversion and believe that the system operates with admirable integrity. UN officials and NGO regularly made the point to us that the DPRK operates extremely efficiently administratively, with high levels of commitment to tasks at hand, done with honesty and lack of theft.

Concern
Where the WFP (and WHO and UNICEF) provide emergency and relief programmes, the EU focus since 2006 is on addressing the structural issues causing the food gap under its Food Security Thematic Programme, specifically its “Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development”.  The DPRK budget for 2011-2013 is €20m.  The Irish NGO Concern manages integrated food and sustainable agricultural programmes, irrigation infrastructure projects, crop rotations, soil erosion mitigation techniques on sloping agriculture, and green house horticulture for winter production.

Accompanied by Concern staff including an Irish national, we travelled through the traditional breadbasket south of Pyongyang to Singye.  Richly coloured red clays, verdant hills and clear blue skies combined to produce a beautiful landscape, dotted with small hamlets untouched it seemed by time.  Timeless too was the sight of plentiful colourfully dressed workers in the fields, carts drawn by cattle and curious, though distant locals.

Concern operates the EU programme in Singye and associated projects in farms in and around the District.  It is an integrated operation designed to provide locally manufactured nutritious food for children and effective water and sanitation systems to end the scourge of water-borne diseases.  Pasteurized soymilk, tofu and protein rich maze noodles are produced using Chinese machinery in an operation run by locals under the leadership of the redoubtable Deputy Chairman of the District Committee, and her elderly though indomitable assistant, the kind of strong Korean women we are all familiar with down in the South.

We visited a cooperative farm, located off-road and across a broad river, that has a goat herd of some 700 whose milk is pasteurised for distribution or made into yoghurt.  Cellars are in construction to store cheese.  The farm manager is pioneering and open to new ideas, we were told.  There is a major push on by the international agencies to promote conservation agriculture, an approach that avoids ploughing altogether and thereby preserving nutrients, limiting erosion and improving yields.  A field at this farm is the first experiment with this new technique.  (Brazil is the leader in conservation agriculture and the exporter of the best planting devices.)  If successful, it will relieve rural populations of the time and energy consumed ploughing.

Our Irish national guide is coming to the end of his five-year stint in the DPRK.  He is resolutely optimistic in character and paid tribute to the ordinary Koreans he worked with as extremely kind, hospitable, hardworking and honest.  Aside from those fond memories, he recalled the magnificent scenery amidst the spectacular mountains as one travelled north.

It is a challenging working environment but the effectiveness of comprehensive national and local administration means that goals can be achieved in the DPRK that would simply be inconceivable in many other countries receiving international aid.  A WHO official told me, in astonishment, that the inoculation (using internationally donated supplies) of the whole population between the ages of 1 and 4 years of age was achieved in two weeks.  There is no doubt that the UN agencies, NGOs and EU Special Programmes are achieving their intended goals, and meeting real needs in terms of nutrition and health for vulnerable groups.

Through Concern we had the opportunity to meet a range of people working with UN agencies and NGOs in North Korea, as well as a number of diplomats.  I paid tribute to their work and the often trying conditions of life that they subject themselves to when working to alleviate suffering in the world.  I was proud to note that even though Ireland faced considerable economic and fiscal challenges, our Irish Aid programme continued to enjoy widespread and strong public support at home.

Best wishes and have a good weekend,
Eamonn
Eamonn McKee
Ambassador”

Ambassador’s Message, 22 May 2012

‘As you might know, we at the Embassy launched a living history of Irish Korean links on our website.  We compiled what we knew into a narrative and invited anyone and everyone to submit additions.  We have so far managed to push back the date of Ireland’s first engagement with Korea: a distant forebear of mine, Col. Hugh McKee, on the USS Colorado, in Korea as part of a raiding party in 1871.   He led a group, which included four Irish born men, the first to reach Korea as far as we know (very regrettably from an Irish diplomatic point of view!)

They attacked a garrison on Gangwha island, near Seoul, and it seems that Pat Dougherty from Ireland killed General Yeo in the process.  Col. McKee died from wounds sustained in the raid and the Irish born US Marines won Medals of Honour.

Incidentally, a Korean historian told me that some twenty-five years ago a descendent of Col. McKee visited the monument to General Yeo and met the General’s descendents there, so reconciliation was achieved.  We are needless, to say, hoping to find an Irish person who got to Korea before them with more peaceful intentions!

Another fascinating Irish connection has recently surfaced.  The following is something of a detective story, pursued by Frank O’Donoghue, whom some of you may recall was Deputy Head of Mission here up until last year and the new Deputy Head of Mission, Ruth Parkin.  I want to thank Frank for his continued (and dogged!) research on Irish Korean relations, despite finishing his posting here.

The story has thrown up some extraordinary coincidences.  Frank had thought that Charles Morris, and Irish born missionary active in Korea from 1901 until his death in 1927, may have been born Church of Ireland but could not find a registration of his birth in either the Anglican or Methodist churches of Portlaoise, Ireland. Out of the blue, a granddaughter of Morris, Ms Janet Downing, contacted the Embassy because she saw the reference on the Embassy website.  She provided us with her detailed and fascinating contribution.  When Ruth mentioned the story of a Methodist who died in Korea but was born in Laois to her parents (her father is a Methodist minister), her mother immediately suggested Ballyhupahun as a possible location for Charles Morris’s birth without any knowledge of the context.

Our serendipitous team of detectives have given permission for me to publish their exchanges below, for which thanks.

As you will see, the story is a wonderful series of human and historical connections, linking Huguenot settlement in Ireland in the 18^th century; the conversion of an Irish Huguenot to Methodism by the founder of Methodism John Wesley during the latter’s last of many trips to Ireland (some twenty-one between 1747 and 1789);  Irish emigration to American; American missionary work in Korea; and Irish American genealogical research in Ireland which yielded yet another amazing coincidence involving an old post card.

We have put obituaries of Charles Morris on the Embassy website which give an indication of the esteem in which he was held in Korea.  It is also clear that his wife was a heroic missionary too, staying in Korea for another thirteen years after his death in 1927.

I hope you enjoy the story.
Best wishes,
Eamonn
Eamonn McKee
Ambassador

Extract from Frank’s email, December 2011 

“In the spring of 2011, along with a fellow country man and Anglican priest, we stumbled upon the above-mentioned Irish born but US reared and educated Methodist missionary in Korea from 1901 to 18 January 1927.”

“The Reverend Charles David Morris is buried in the Yangwhajin or Foreigners’ Graveyard in Seoul, South Korea (Republic of Korea). On the steel stake beside his gravestone there is biography in which it is stated that Charles David Morris graduated from Drew Theological Seminary in 1900 and ministered as far north as Pyongyang and places between there and Seoul such as Incheon.

It was also stated that he was of French Huguenot origin. My own surmise is that Charles David Morris was Church of Ireland (Anglican/Episcopal) when in Ireland as a community of Huguenot descendants worshiped in French in Portarlington, County Laois ( then Queens County) until about 1869 but that his family joined the Methodist Church after they settled in the USA.”

Extract from Frances Bristol, General Commission on Archives and History,
The United Methodist Church, New Jersey, USA, January 2012

“Dear Mr. O’Donoghue,

Thank you for your request.  There is quite a bit of information available at this location on Rev. Morris, but, unfortunately, no mention of the names of his parents.  Attached to this message please find extracts from the Mission Biographical Reference file on Rev. Morris.  Also included is an extract from the Alumni Record of Drew Theological Seminary related to Rev. Morris.”

Extract from Frank’s email to myself and Ruth, May 2012

“Ambassador, Ruth,

This is some research provided me by the United Methodist Church concerning one Charles David Morris. I have found from the attached that he was born in 1869 in a place called Ballyhupahun, Queen’s County (now County Laois). The current spelling is Ballyhuppahaun, Roseanallis, County Laois close to Portlaoise.  I went to school in Ballyfin nearby (1968-1971) and some of the locals said to me at that time that ‘Roseanallis’ was so called by a local Quaker landowner who had three daughters Rose Ann and Alice!

What is unclear is if Charles David Morris was born into the Church of Ireland given his Huguenot background but most of that community were closer to Portarlington where services were conducted in French within Church of Ireland until, curiously, the year of his birth.

There is (was) a Methodist Church in Portlaoise (then called Maryborough) but in the days of the horse and cart the Morris birthplace would have been quite a distance to travel each Sunday.

It is possible the Morris family worshipped closer to home perhaps in Mountmellick or Mountrath where there would have been long established Anglican/ Church of Ireland and Society of Friends (Quaker) communities/congregations.”

Extract from Janet Downing to Ruth, granddaughter of Charles Morris, 3 May 2012

“I was absolutely thrilled to find my grandfather, Charles David Morris, listed on your Embassy of Ireland website.  One little correction, I would like to make is that his parents did not emigrate to the US.  ‘Since both of his parents were deceased, he emigrated in 1888 at age 19 to the United States…’

He was an amazing man and I wish that I had known him, but it is wonderful to see him remembered on your website.”

Reply from Ruth, 4 May 2012

“We are in the process of developing a project on Irish links with Korea and would be interested in any further information you may be willing to share. Frank was unable to find a record of his birth but thought that perhaps he had been raised Anglican before converting to Methodism on or before travelling to the US. We really have little other than in that short paragraph so anything you know will be extra. Obviously it seems he married and had children – in Korea?”

Email Response from Ms Downing, 4 May 2012

“I am just thrilled to hear from you! I have quite a bit about Charles Morris because my mother and her sister were both born in Yeng Byen.  My mother went back to Ireland with her parents in 1925 and so learned quite a bit and although very young, remembered it because he died in 1927.”

“I will go through my documents, but off the top of my head – the Maurices were Huguenots who built Water Castle near Abbeyleix.   I only have them back to a James Maurice and Muriel Tarlton from the 1700’s, who are buried at the Old Church on the De Vesci Estate.  Their son John Maurice is said to have been converted by John Wesley in the old church at Maryborough in 1789.  His son, John Maurice married Hannah Knight and got a farm at Ballyhupahaun.  His son James stayed on the farm and anglicized the name to Morris and was Charles’ father.  Charles always said that if he had sons, if would have changed the name back to Maurice “to remind us of our noble ancestors who left the land of their birth rather than give up their faith.”  Charles was born in Ballyhupahaun. There is also a small Methodist Church in Ballyhupahaun which was built in 1848, but has an old stone inside which says AD 1795 – it appears that there had been a Methodist Church in that area since very soon after John Wesley was in Ireland.”

“I am very much into genealogy and have been trying to find out as much about my Irish ancestors since I did not know this special man.”

“My grandmother Louise Ogilvy grew up in Topeka, Kansas in the US and when she was 18, missionaries came through looking for a teacher for the school age children of the missionaries in Pyongyang.  Although so young, they could not find anyone and so she went to Korea in 1901 and there met Charles David Morris.  She married him in 1903 in Kobe, Japan.  They were in Yeng Byen 1905 – 1912, then Pyongyang until 1916, when they went to Wonju until he died.  He itinerated all over and started many churches and schools.”

“I went to Ireland with my mother in 1988 – one hundred years after Charles had left.  We found the farm in Ballyhupahaun and met the man who bought it after Charles’ brother, Robert, died in 1950.  I said I was the granddaughter of Charles Morris and he said “Robert had a brother who went across the seas to preach.”  Just amazing after 100 years!  Then I went to a house near to the Methodist Church and met Olive Graham.  When I said I was the granddaughter of Charles Morris, she turned pale and said to a granddaughter, “bring that card we were looking at last night.”  It was a postcard from Charles to her mother in 1900 when he was on his way to Korea.  She knew her mother was a cousin, but I have still not quite made that connection, although Olive did not think it was important.  She had cared for Charles’ brother, Robert, until he died.  She was just so kind to me and had me all over the county and Dublin meeting “cousins.”  What a magical time it was.”

“My grandparents gave their lives to their work in Korea and loved the Korean people, but with so much of their time in “North Korea” one wonders about their contribution.  But it appears that they were truly loved when they were there.  My grandmother stayed on in Seoul until 1940, when she was forced to leave [with all the other missionaries], and she died a year later.  (I knew neither of my grandparents – they were both gone before I was born.)  Actually, my mother went back to Korea in 1934 after she graduated from college, having difficulty finding a job.  The superintendent of the Oriental Consolidated Mining Company had loved her father and offered her a job teaching.

My father had been going to Colorado School of Mines and got pneumonia.  He saw an ad in the papers for supervisors needed in the gold mines of Korea and thought that sounded much more exciting than going back to school.  So both my parents and grandparents fell in love and married in Korea.  So although I have never been there – it is certainly a big part of my heritage!” ‘

Embassy Message, 14 May 2012

“As you may have read in the Irish media the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland, Mr. Eamon Gilmore, T.D. has announced the Government’s decision to establish the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad.  The Award will provide recognition by the Irish State for persons living abroad, primarily Irish citizens, those entitled to Irish citizenship and those of Irish descent, who have made a sustained and distinguished service to Ireland and/or Irish communities abroad.

This is the first year of the award and it is expected that it will be awarded annually to no more than 10 people. We would like to invite members of the Irish Community in Korea to nominate anyone living here who they feel should be put forward for the award. We will then collate the submissions for consideration by a High Level panel in Ireland.

Nominations can be submitted to the Embassy until next Friday 25 May.

Please find the notice about the award on our website at the following link:

http://www.embassyofireland.or.kr/home/index.aspx?id=81828“

Ambassador’s Message, 23 March 2012

“I thought you might be interested to learn that the Irish community registered in Korea has now exceeded 900, to be exact 904.  This is a very considerable and speedy increase  when you consider that there was less than half that number here in 2008 (428).

You will not be surprised to learn that most are involved in education, some 714 or almost 80%.  It is possibly higher than this because these numbers are based on the number of E2 visas and do not include Irish spouses of Korean nationals (59) or Irish permanent residents (19) some of whom may also be involved in the education sector.

Thinking about the increase in our community and indeed its geographic spread across Korea, is a good opportunity to think too about contingency planning.  You will recall I have been in touch with you some time ago.  For those who have arrived since then, I attached my previous message below.

I would appeal to anyone who has not done so to ensure that you are registered with the Embassy, in particular giving us mobile phone and landline numbers, skype addresses, location and next of kin. If you are registered with the Embassy, but your details have changed, please contact us with your new address and landline.  Your skype address is useful because the internet can often work when phone lines and mobile communications are down.   Please pass this message on to anyone who may have recently arrived and/or who has not registered.

I would like to reiterate that this information is for our purposes only and will not be shared with any other national authority.

The Embassy is currently reviewing and up dating its contingency plan, as a part of a worldwide exercise by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to ensure that we are ready to respond to major emergencies.  If you wish to input, we would be delighted to hear from you.

The Nuclear Security Summit next week and the anniversary of the disaster at Fukushima certainly put us in mind of a possible event here at one of Korea’s nuclear power plants. Indeed the difficulties at the Gori-1 plant at Busan last January underline the need for contingency planning.  I list below the location of the five nuclear power plants in Korea and request that anyone living nearby (perhaps within a 50Km radius) let us know.

None of this should be read as an alarm but merely, as the phrase suggests, ‘contingency’ planning.  The more complete and updated the Embassy’s register, the more likely we are to be in a position to help you or reassure your relatives of your safety.  If you have registered with us but have now left Korea, please let us know.

Best wishes,

Eamonn

Eamonn McKee
Ambassador

 

Nuclear Power Stations, Korea

Name                           Location
Gori                             Gijang-kun, Busan                         
New Gori                    Gijang-kun, Busan                         
Wolsung                      Gyungju-si, Guyngbuk                      
Youngkwang              Hampyung-kun, Jeonnam
Wooljin                       Wooljin-kun, Gyungbuk

Responding to Emergencies [as issued 28 May 2010]

In light of the current escalation of tensions between North and South Korea and the uncertainty of what may happen next, it might be useful to provide information on how to respond to an emergency.  You may find the following helpful.  If you have any ideas or suggestions, we would be delighted to receive them.

(i)                 The first step for Irish citizens is to ensure that your passport is up-to-date.  The second step is register with the Embassy.  Registration is simple. Click on www.embassyofireland.or.kr

and then click ‘Registering with the Embassy.’ Having information on how to send messages to you and/or to contact you is absolutely vital in the event of a sudden-onset emergency.

Based on the latest annual statistics available from the Korea Immigration Service we know that there are more than four hundred Irish who live in the Republic of Korea but only slightly more than half that figure appears on the Embassy’s Citizens’ Register.  I would urge you to encourage anyone who has not registered with the Embassy to please do so.  There may be concerns about confidentiality but I assure you that this information is not shared and is used solely by the Embassy.

(ii)               What advice is given in an Emergency very much depends on the kind of emergency and what the authorities are doing or planning in response i.e. whether it is natural or man-made, where it is imminent or underway, whether it requires a large movement of population and so on.

There is an ‘Emergency’ side bar on the Embassy’s website for general guidance.  For example in areas prone to emergencies or where there may be a need to move quickly in uncertain circumstances, it is often recommended to have a ‘grab bag’ readied containing vital documents and essential supplies (suggested items for inclusion are listed).

(iii)             Aside obviously from monitoring ongoing situations, the Embassy stays in close touch with the EU delegation here, other missions and with the Korean authorities.  The Embassy should be your first port of call if you are seeking advice.  In an emergency if contact with the Embassy is not possible, the Department of Foreign Affairs operates a Consular Assistance Unit in Dublin which provides advice, support and assistance to Irish citizens in emergency situations and to family members in Ireland who are concerned about the welfare of an Irish citizen abroad.

The Unit operates during normal Irish office hours (Monday-Friday). You can make contact with the Unit by telephoning +353 1 408 2000. Outside normal office hours, an Emergency Duty Officer is available at all other times (including weekends), 365 days a year (the contact number is the same).  The Embassy also provides a 24 hours service (016247 6455).  Please be advised that the Emergency Duty Officer should only be contacted in the event of a genuine emergency. If your query is not urgent, please wait until the next working day to contact the Embassy or making contact with the Consular Assistance Unit.

(iv)             In the event of an emergency, the Department of Foreign Affairs can mobilize its Crisis Centre.  It has done this on a number of occasions for example in response to 9/11and the 2006 crisis in the Lebanon. During an emergency, the Crisis Centre liaises with relevant missions abroad and national authorities, is manned 24 hours and issues free-phone numbers to members of the public in Ireland to trace relatives.  The Department can also send members of staff to the site of the emergency to assist.  The Travel Advice Section of the Department’s website contains further useful information (www.dfa.ie).

I hope this information is useful and reassuring.  Please feel free to forward any comments and please also encourage anyone you know who has not registered with the Embassy to do so. “

Ambassador’s Message, 19 March 2012

“I noticed with some trepidation the rain on Friday evening but come Saturday morning the sun was shining.  It augured well for the IAK’s St. Patrick’s Day Festival.  And what a day it was: by the reckoning of some organisers, the best one yet.  The amphitheatre at the D-Cube Plaza was full to capacity, its enfolding and steeply raked seats allowing not just an over-flowing crowd but a sense of intimacy amongst the large and cheerful Irish, ex-pat and Korean crowd.  The music and dancing was top class.  From spontaneous dancing by members from the crowd to organised dancing by practiced and first-timers alike under the expert direction and encouragement from Fr. Seán Connelly, the Festival was as we say, great ‘craic’.  The shopping mall provided plenty of food and beverages for the mingling crowd. People and family wandered from the venue to the shops and back again, stopping for some face-painting or buying the IAK’s t-shirts, all funds going to the Association’s fund raising effort in support of a monument to those Irish who lost their lives in the Korean war.

Many congratulations to the IAK and its volunteers for a memorable day.

We celebrated another IAK initiative, in cooperation with the Embassy and the Emerald Cultural Institute in Ireland (one of our premier EFL colleges), at the Embassy’s St. Patrick’s Day reception on Friday evening.  Along with IAK President Conor O’Reilly, it was my honour to award the prizes for our essay competition.  As you may recall, the competition involves third level Korean students writing an essay in English on some aspect of Irish Korean relations.

The following is an extract from my remarks at the prize-giving which will give you a sense of the quality of the winners and the value of the competition to Irish Korean relations.  I want to record my thanks to Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole, for sending a personal message to one of the prize winners who was inspired by his writing.

Whether you were with us or not at the Festival, I hope you had a great St Patrick’s Day and that you got the chance to catch up on some of coverage on RTE and in the Irish newspapers of the events around the world that celebrate Ireland, the Irish and the seventy million of Irish ancestry around the world.

Best wishes,
Eamonn

Eamonn McKee
Ambassador

 

*

IAK Ireland Korea Essay Competition – Prize Giving Remarks

To conclude this part of the evening, we have an important task.  We often reflect on the parallels in the historical narrative of Ireland and Korea.  We think about contemporary influences less so.

Thanks to the IAK, working with the Embassy, I can tell you about a new initiative that inspires just that.

Towards the end of last year the Irish Association and the Embassy announced the inaugural Irish-Korean Essay Competition for university students in Korea.

One of the challenges we face as a small country positioned on the far side of Europe is simply increasing knowledge of Ireland amongst Korean students and highlighting Ireland as a leading location for study abroad. This competition was designed to do just that by asking third level students to write an essay on the broad topic of connections between Korea and Ireland.

We were delighted with the results. Over 100 entries were received and each one of them gave us a valuable insight into how Ireland is viewed from Korea and indeed what information is available about Ireland to Koreans.

From comparisons between the stone walls of Jeju Island and the Aran Islands to the author who conducted an online survey of knowledge about Ireland among his or her friends, the essays were imaginative, informative and of an exceptionally high standard.

It was a tough task to narrow down the winners.  As one of the judges, I can attest to that! But after a short list was put together by the Irish Association, the final panel of judges came to agreement.

Most of the winners, I’m pleased to say, are with us here this evening.

5^th prize winner: We have five prizes to award, starting with Ms Yun Chae Young, who wrote on 

Freedom, Creativity and Harmony-that Korea Should Learn: Irish Street Arts and Culture.

I loved this essay. Ms Yun’s descriptions of the buskers and street performers of Ireland are truly evocative and made me miss home! In one particularly poignant scene she describes seeing a picture of an old man teaching the harmonica to a young girl at the world Fleadh in a relaxed meeting between old and young.  I’d like to invite Ms Yun up to the stage to receive her certificate, some reading and a voucher to spend on a few more books to keep up her interest in culture.

Ms Yun, I do hope that you continue your interest in Irish culture – maybe at some stage Seoul will host an event like the Street Performance World Festival which has brought much excitement to Dublin and Cork over the past couple of years.

The winner of fourth prize wrote a piece that reflects on the complementary traditions of waking the dead in Korea and Ireland. Ms Nam Ji Hyun who wrote on The Wake’: A Window for Viewing Ireland and Korea, spoke of the festive funeral: when the relatives and friends of the person who has died can share a meal and a drink to celebrate their life and ease their passing. Ms Nam is unfortunately unable to be here this evening but we will make sure her prize and certificate gets to her.

Third prize goes to Ms Choi Min Jeong for her essay: Exclusion and Revival of the Indigenous Language of Ireland and Korea.  Many of the essays we received referred to the shared histories of Korea and Ireland as colonies of a neighbouring power. No other essayist drew on the social, historical and cultural circumstances and similarities in such a critical and thematic manner.

Ms Choi’s decision to focus on the manipulation of language, both by coloniser and colonised, marked her out as dedicated student of post-colonial literature as well as very well informed on the histories and cultures of our respective countries.

It gives me great pleasure to ask Ms Choi to join me and receive her prize of a book voucher of 250,000 Won and some additional reading. I have no doubt that you have many books you have your eye on and the voucher will be well spent.

Now we come to the final two prizes.

Both these essays are particularly strong but ultimately we had to choose a winner, and so second prize goes to Ms Paek Jung Won for How Korean Women may learn from Irish Women.

The issue of gender equality is a work in process across the globe. I do not think that any country, including our own, can claim to have got it right yet. Discussing the issue openly is absolutely critical to making progress. It takes courage and conviction to do this. Ms Paek has used the space provided by this competition to speak about the situation in Korea.

Ms Paek recognises that whilst the government sector should facilitate and encourage change, Korean women must challenge the status quo. If I could invite Ms Paek up to the stage to receive her certificate, her reading and cash prize of 1 million Won.

Before you step down I must tell everyone that Ms Paek was influenced in her writing by Fintan O’Toole of the Irish Times. I am delighted to say that Mr O’Toole has sent her a message of congratulations – He says:

“ Warmest congratulations on your splendid essay.

Real friendship between countries is not just a matter of polite expressions of mutual regard. It is about the capacity to learn from each other’s experiences. Perhaps even more importantly, it is about the way comparisons help us to understand, not just the other culture, but our own.

Your essay is a fine example of these ideas at work. Korea and Ireland do indeed share important experiences as small countries overcoming underdevelopment, coping with the legacy of conflict and seeking to balance change with identity. Korea’s successes can give hope to Irish people in our current difficulties. It is lovely to know from your essay that a young Korean woman can find some inspiration in the courage and strength of the Irish women who have fought for equality and respect. If all Korean women have the insight and passion you show in your essay, you will be a formidable force for change.

Warmest regards,
Fintan O’Toole”

Finally, we come to our winner. Ms Ro Seong Ja, who wrote a beautiful and imaginative essay named Barley – A Story of Resilience.  Ms Ro weaves a tale of the personal and the national experiences of both Ireland and Korea and brings a new perspective to the relationship between the countries. She begins with the smell of malted barley in the air around the Guinness Brewery in Dublin and then moves to her grandmother’s kitchen in Korea where the same smell comes from the Me-jew: bricks of boiled barley and soy beans which form the basis of Korean sauces.

I had not realised how integral barely was to both of our nations.  Our national drinks – Soju and Whiskey, share this as a main ingredient. As Ms Ro tells us, we both have used barley in times of need – in Korea to get through the lean season and in Ireland as a hardy supplement during famines.  It was also a handy food for the rebels of 1798.  Our Noble Laureate, Séamus Heaney, wrote inspiringly of the dead rebels lying in the fields, the barley in their pockets eventually springing to life.  Our songs too often sing of wind-swept barley. It now seems to me that simple barley is a redolent symbolic and cultural connection between Ireland and Korea.

Unfortunately, Ms Ro cannot be here this evening as she is currently studying in France but her sister has come to collect her prize on her behalf. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Emerald Cultural Institute, one of Ireland’s top class language institutes she will spend a month studying English in Ireland, at I may say an extremely advanced level. She will also receive 2 million Won to facilitate her stay in Ireland. I am delighted to be able to give this prize to you as Ms Ro’s representative.

My thanks to the Irish Association of Korea and to the Emerald Cultural Institute for making this competition possible. We hope that it will run successfully for many years into the future.

The fact that all five finalists were female shows the essay competition to be at least one area where women are actually ahead.  My only hope, in the interests of gender equality, is that next year a man might make it into the final five. I hope Korean men are up to the challenger.  Maybe we could have a man write in support of gender issues!

Thank you and Happy St Patrick’s Day.”

Ambassador’s Message, February 16, 2012

As spring approaches, Irish thoughts begin to turn to the annual celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

Many of you have been enthusiastic participants in previous celebrations and we hope that those who have not or have just arrived will come along this year. The events have been organised by the Irish Association of Korea over the past decade and I salute all their tremendous volunteer efforts to bring a flavour of Ireland and our culture to the streets of Seoul.

This year the IAK is hoping to continue the tradition with a city centre event on Saturday 17 March. However, the major challenge remains funding. It needs resources (for the hire of equipment) and staffing necessary for a public event that last year attracted some 10,000 visitors, expats and Koreans alike.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in becoming a sponsor, I would greatly encourage you to contact the IAK. Further information and contact details are available at their website http://www.iak.co.kr and email – irishassociationkorea@gmail.com.

Best wishes,

Eamonn

Ambassador’s Message, 19 January, 2012

Message from the Irish embassy

“Ambassador’s Message 19 January 2012
While in contrast to last year, we have not had much snow, I want to draw your attention to two events that cannot do without it.

The first is the International Ski Festival.  It has been one of the highlights of the year for expatriate families living in Korea for thirty years and indeed the Festival is celebrating its 30^th anniversary.

It has been my honour to be selected as this year’s Chairman.  Indeed previous Irish Ambassador’s have served in this role, including Ambassador Moran for the five years he was posted to Seoul.

He had the distinct advantage of being able to ski!  That said and even though skiing is not a great tradition in Ireland for obvious reasons, if you have skied or are interested in giving it a go, the International Ski Festival is not a bad place to start.  For more information on the event, please visit http://www.yongpyong.co.kr/eng/index.asp

The second concerns the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games and the need for support and volunteers.

It will be held in Pyeongchang in early February next year.  Some of you may have noticed a recent advertising campaign to raise awareness of it. We have heard from Special Olympics Ireland that they expect there to be 14 Irish athletes attending the games, competing in Alpine Skiing and Floorball (Floor Hockey).

One of the unique elements of the Special Olympics is the Host Town Programme where athletes from the different countries stay in a town before the Games begin to learn something of the culture and environment of the host country. Some of you may remember the great success of this programme in Ireland when as a result nearly every corner of the country felt involved.

The organisers of the games are building up to the hosting of the event and are very aware of the challenges of hosting teams from so many different parts of the world. It is not yet certain where the Irish team will be hosted but it is likely to be in the greater Seoul area.

As the Games approach the organisers are looking for both assistance in holding the Games and volunteers to take part in the Host Town Programme. Support could include providing athletes with services, turning up to cheer them on or volunteering to spend the days before the games with the team (26-29 January) acting as local liaison between the Irish team and Korean hosts. Korean language skills would be an added bonus but not essential.  The organisers want to make sure that there is plenty of support for the teams as they compete.

As more details become available on how to sign up to be a volunteer or to offer assistance we will let you know.

In the meantime you might wish to have a look at the Games’ website: http://www.2013sopoc.org/hb/en/sub06

Best wishes and Happy New (Lunar) Year,
Eamonn

Eamonn McKee
Ambassador”

Ambassador’s Message, December 20, 2011

Message from the Irish embassy

“I am writing to you today following the unexpected news of Kim Jong-il’s death over the weekend. His death raises many questions which only time will answer.  As of now, the general expectation, which we at the Embassy share, is that there will be no immediate change in the policies of the DPRK.  There is no immediate necessity to take any further precautions.  We continue to recommend that all Irish people living here should register with the Embassy and strongly recommend that anyone planning to travel to North Korea register with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy.

That said, I would draw your attention to the information on responding to emergencies issued by the Embassy last year and which are copied below and suggest that you might refresh your knowledge of the information posted on the Embassy’s website – www.embassyofireland.or.kr.

I wish you a very pleasant and peaceful Christmas and New Year.

Best wishes,

Eamonn McKee / Ambassador

Responding to Emergencies

• The first step for Irish citizens is to ensure that your passport is up-to-date.  The second step is register with the Embassy.  Registration is simple. Click onwww.embassyofireland.or.kr and then click ‘Registering with the Embassy.’ Having information on how to send messages to you and/or to contact you is absolutely vital in the event of a sudden-onset emergency.  Based on the latest annual statistics available from the Korea Immigration Service we know that there are more than eight hundred Irish who live in the Republic of Korea and about two thirds of that figure appear on the Embassy’s Citizens’ Register.  I would urge you to encourage anyone who has not registered with the Embassy to please do so.  There may be concerns about confidentiality but I assure you that this information is not shared and is used solely by the Embassy.
• What advice is given in an Emergency very much depends on the kind of emergency and what the authorities are doing or planning in response i.e. whether it is natural or man-made, where it is imminent or underway, whether it requires a large movement of population and so on. There is an ‘Emergency’ side bar on the Embassy’s website for general guidance.  For example in areas prone to emergencies or where there may be a need to move quickly in uncertain circumstances, it is often recommended to have a ‘grab bag’ readied containing vital documents and essential supplies (suggested items for inclusion are listed).
• Aside obviously from monitoring ongoing situations, the Embassy stays in close touch with the EU delegation here, other missions and with the Korean authorities.  The Embassy should be your first port of call if you are seeking advice.  In an emergency if contact with the Embassy is not possible, the Department of Foreign Affairs operates a Consular Assistance Unit in Dublin which provides advice, support and assistance to Irish citizens in emergency situations and to family members in Ireland who are concerned about the welfare of an Irish citizen abroad. The Unit operates during normal Irish office hours (Monday-Friday). You can make contact with the Unit by telephoning +353 1 408 2000. Outside normal office hours, an Emergency Duty Officer is available at all other times (including weekends), 365 days a year (the contact number is the same).  The Embassy also provides a 24 hours service (010 3247 6455).  Please be advised that the Emergency Duty Officer should only be contacted in the event of a genuine emergency. If your query is not urgent, please wait until the next working day to contact the Embassy or making contact with the Consular Assistance Unit.
• In the event of an emergency, the Department of Foreign Affairs can mobilize its Crisis Centre. It has done this on a number of occasions for example in response to 9/11and the 2006 crisis in the Lebanon. During an emergency, the Crisis Centre liaises with relevant missions abroad and national authorities, is manned 24 hours and issues free-phone numbers to members of the public in Ireland to trace relatives. The Department can also send members of staff to the site of the emergency to assist.  The Travel Advice Section of the Department’s website contains further useful information (www.dfa.ie).

I hope this information is useful and reassuring.  Please feel free to forward any comments and please also encourage anyone you know who has not registered with the Embassy to do so.

Eamonn McKee / Ambassador”