Ministry of Foreign Affairs, taking on the challenges of future generations, holds the 2024 Youth Advancement Forum to Latin America
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the ‘2024 Youth Advancement Forum to Latin America’ at the Seoul Campus of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies on Friday, May 31 to support young people’s advancement into Latin America.
※ Simultaneous online live broadcast, available again on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Latin Plaza by MOFA KR YouTube channel
A total of 100 young people, both online and offline, attended this forum, which was jointly held with Hankuk University of Foreign Studies’ Latin American Research Institute. In particular, the field participants who filled the event hall remained present throughout the forum despite the long duration of about 5 hours, demonstrating the keen interest in Central and South America.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the interest of young people with a more diverse program than previous years, including inviting 10 speakers to a total of 4 sessions. In the first session, Professor Son Hye-hyeon of Korea University’s Spain and Latin America Research Institute introduced ‘Latin America’s 2024 election situation and political issues in major countries’ to enhance young people’s basic understanding of the Latin American region.
In the second session, which introduced government support programs related to youth overseas expansion, support for advancement to international organizations, public diplomacy field training center at diplomatic missions abroad, overseas employment support program (K-MOVE), and internship projects at Korean companies were introduced in order. As these programs are projects being promoted all over the world, including Central and South America, it was a useful time for young people interested in expanding overseas to access a variety of opportunities and information. Lastly, the program to dispatch interns to regional organizations in Central and South America was introduced in 2023, where the dispatched person personally served as a speaker, vividly conveying intern life and communicating with peers, adding meaning.
In the third session that followed, people with experience in Latin America from various fields, including public institutions, private companies, and university professors entering Latin America, shared △ career path introduction for each field, △ employment preparation process, △ market analysis and entry strategy, and △ experiences in Central and South America. In particular, information on entry into the health and pharmaceutical (Daewoong Pharmaceutical) and construction and infrastructure industries (Hyundai Engineering & Construction), which were considered promising fields for entry into Central and South America in 2024, including the trade field (KOTRA), was introduced, further increasing the interest and concentration of young people.
The newly prepared 4-session group networking time at this year’s forum provided young people with an opportunity to communicate more closely with people with experience in Central and South America and plan for the future. We surveyed participants’ interests in advance to form more relevant speakers and groups, created a mandarat* schedule, and had time to freely discuss each group. Young people who participated in this session agreed that they were able to communicate more closely with experienced people in the field of interest, and that they were able to further specify their goals and plans for entering Latin America through direct advice.
* A word that combines ‘achieve a goal (manda+la)’ and ‘art’. A method of writing the core goal in the center and then writing detailed goals.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects that this forum will serve as a stepping stone for our youth to take on the challenge of advancing into Central and South America, and will continue to develop the forum so that young people can communicate with those with experience in Latin America in various fields and share information on entering Latin America.
Editor Miso
