The ASEAN-Korea Center launched an educational program aimed at enhancing understanding of Southeast Asian culture and raising multicultural awareness among students in South Korea last Monday.

The 2014 ASEAN School Tour Program was implemented at five elementary schools in North Chungcheong Province, where students from multicultural families are concentrated. It continued through the week until Friday.

Tens of thousands of Southeast Asian people reside in South Korea, giving ASEAN member states a stake in transforming South Korea into a genuinely multicultural society, according to a press statement from the ASEAN-Korea Center.

In cooperation with the North Chungcheong Office of Education, the program will be extended to other regions around the country in the latter half of this year.

The program runs under the theme of “ASEAN and Korea: We are Friends,” and provides diverse and kid-friendly learning activities about Southeast Asian culture and history.

Activities include a video on ASEAN, an ASEAN quiz competition and an ASEAN experience pavilion that features a food zone, traditional costume zone, musical instrument zone, and a game zone, according to the press statement.

The ASEAN School Tour Program was launched in 2009 to raise awareness of ASEAN, which has emerged as an important international partner for South Korea.

Since its launch, over 10,000 students from more than 50 elementary, middle and high schools in South Korea have participated in the program. It is anticipated that the program will be even more significant this year, as the year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN-Korea dialogue relations.

(ephilip2014@heraldcorp.com)