Hebron Mayor Khaled Osaily held talks on 30 March 2012 with Mr. Jonk Yonk Sun, Middle East and Afghanistan Officer at the Korean Agency for International Cooperation (KOICA), Mr. Shin Sun Min, Secretary General of the Korean Youth Association and several of the Association’s members. The delegation was accompanied by Mr. San Bak Li, KOICA Representative in Palestine. The visit aimed at discussing means to enhance cooperation and joint action at the Korean Center built in Hebron and inaugurated a few months ago.
At the beginning of the meeting held at Hebron Municipality, Osaily spoke about the 6.5 million USD Korean-Palestinian Cultural Center which was funded by the Korean Government through KOICA. The Center includes a comprehensive school and a youths activity center which is the first of its kind in Palestine. “The Centre reflects the honorability of the Korean Government and people. I would like to laud the efforts of all officials who worked to ensure the success of this project, thus highlighting the exceptional role played by KOICA in Palestine. This Center shall be a Center for the Korean people in Palestine. Its success story is an example that should be multiplied”, he added.
Osaily also spoke about the possibility of strengthening the Center through hosting Korean trainers in order to transfer the Korean experience to Palestine, sending Palestinian trainees to Korea, promoting cultural exchange and implementing joint projects in Hebron. “This center is a real success story that reflects active cooperation between Hebron Municipality and KOICA”, he said. Osaily also touched on technological developments at the Municipality: “Hebron Municipality is promoting the use of technology in all its sections with a view to becoming an e-municipality in the near future. Around 80% of all requirements for a full-fledged e-municipality have been ensured in order to provide efficient services and to handle citizens’ formalities and requests in a swift and timely manner”, he added.
Mr. Jonk Yonk Sun expressed his admiration of efforts made to activate the Korean Center and lauded relevant activities by Hebron Municipality. “This is one of our most successful projects and a success story that we try to copy in other Palestinian areas. I would like to listen to your views regarding the creation of a similar center in Jenin, given your rich experience and success in this field which encourages us to strengthen our joint action. KOICA shall implement a number of other projects in Hebron in the future through Hebron Municipality. We shall work hand in hand and consider the proposals you made with a view to ensuring more success”, he said.
Mr. Shin Sun Min underlined the outstanding cooperation with Hebron Municipality witnessed by his organization through the Korean Center project. “Such success stories motivate us to increase our cooperation and joint action, to implement additional projects in Hebron and to continue our cooperation to serve the public good”, he added.
The delegation had toured the Korean Center where it took part in an activity targeting children. It also visited other Hebron Municipality facilities, namely the Child Happiness Center, and got acquainted with workshops and events targeting Palestinian children and youths.