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15 FILIPINO STUDENTS AWARDED SCHOLARSHIPS IN SOUTH KOREA

09 September 2014 – Fifteen (15) Filipino students enrolled in advanced degrees at leading universities in South Korea in the fall semester 2014 received scholarship grants from the Woojung Education and Culture Foundation in an awarding ceremony held on August 29 at the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul.

“I hope that the scholarship will help you to learn a new creative knowledge and to achieve your goals,” Foundation Chairman Dr. Lee Joong-Keum said in a welcome speech. “Also, I hope you can be the bridge that connects your home country and Korea, as well as being an outstanding individual who will lead the world.”

Scholars from Laos and Thailand delivered speeches on behalf of the scholarship awardees to express their gratitude and appreciation to WECF, which, according to Dr. Lee, advocates the expansion of educational opportunities across the different regions to help educate the global leaders of the 21^st century.

The Filipino scholars were among 102 students from 13 countries from Asia, Africa and the South Pacific granted scholarships for one semester by the Foundation, which was established in 2008 by the Booyoung Group, a local company focusing on construction, to support global human resource development.

Elaine M. Diza, Cultural Officer and Attaché of the Philippine Embassy in Korea, joined Soul-based ambassadors from other countries and the WECF Board of Directors in the awarding ceremony, with former South Korean Prime Minister and United Nations General Assembly President Han Seung-Soo, as special guest.

The Philippine Embassy in Seoul has assisted the Woojung Scholarship since last year in ensuring that the best and most deserving Filipino graduate school students in South Korean universities get a chance at winning the scholarship.

The Woojung Foundation Scholarship, which is worth four million KRW (US$3,700) for the fall semester, is very competitive. Evaluated every semester, each recipient has to fulfill a number of requirements to be able to justify their retention.Thirteen (13) are continuing recipients. Marjohn Niño (Crop Science, Chungbuk National University) and Lawrence Limjuco (Energy Science and Biotechnology, Myoungji University) were the new grantees for this fall semester.

Of the 13 students, seven are in PhD programs: Valerie Diane Valeriano and Edward Alain Pajarillo (Animal Resource Science, Dankook University), Joseph dela Cruz (Molecular Biotechnology, Hankyong National University), Choco Michael Gorospe (Molecular Biomedicine, Inha University), Judee Grace Nemeno (Biomedical Science and Technology, Konkuk University), John Marc Puguan (Energy Science, Myoungji University), and Eva Marie Wang (Global Education and Cooperation, Seoul National University).

The rest are in Masters programs: Kristine Joy Mallari (MS Environmental Technology and Policy, Korea University), Nikita Mercado (Public Policy, Korea Development Institute), Imee Necessito (Water Resources Engineering) and Alyssa Marie Fulgarenas (MS Chemical Engineering) at Kongju National University, Albert Surla (Structural Engineering,Sangmyung University), and Monica Dulos (International Relations, Sogang University).

Although the WECF was established in 2008 to support global human resource development and presently has 484 recipients, Filipino students have been awarded scholarships since February 2013. The other recipient countries are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Fiji, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Kenya, Nepal, and Ghana.

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PHL EMBASSY TEAM GOES ON CONSULAR MISSION TO MOKPO, SOUTH KOREA

09 September 2014 – An 11-member consular team from the Philippine Embassy in Seoul conducted its first-ever consular outreach mission in Korea’s southwestern city of Mokpo, 310km south of Seoul, for two days beginning August 29.

The mission, led by First Secretary and Consul Roderico C. Atienza, assisted 115 Filipinos at the Mokpo Catholic Center on consular services ranging from the renewal of passports, report of births, notarial acts, to dual citizenship applications, and police clearance. Local arrangements were made by the Mokpo Filipino Organization (MFO).

“We really appreciate the Embassy’s coming over from Seoul to help us update our official documents,” said long-time Mokpo resident and MFO President Sonia Ramos-Kim, expressing hope that the initial visit by the consular team will lead to a formal recognition by the Embassy of their regional Filipino community organization.

Social Welfare Attaché Lucita J. Villanueva, only one of eight such officers in Philippine diplomatic missions around the world, held one-on-one family counseling sessions with Filipino women married to Korean men, some of whom have taken Korean nationality and have been residing in Korea for as long as 20 years.

Apart from Filipinos living and working in Mokpo, smaller groups made the drive or the ferry ride from the larger Gwangju metropolitan city and the surrounding counties of Sinan, Haenam, Yeongam, Jindo, and Wando.

As of 2013, there were 1,403 Filipinos known to be residing in South Jeolla Province, where Mokpo is located. On the whole, Filipinos in Mokpo and the surrounding areas are medium-term factory staff working in the shipbuilding industry or are living long-term in South Korea as spouses of South Koreans.

Mokpo, which has a population of 247,442, relies heavily on the Daebul industrial complex and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries located near Yeongam. The imports of merchandise support the local economy of Mokpo as they pass through its harbor.