WeGO builds synergies with KOICA to promote “people-centered smart cities”

November 3, 2021

SEOUL – With the new appointment of the WeGO Secretary General Jung Sook Park was invited to a bilateral meeting with the President of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Hyuk-Sang Soh, on November 3. At the KOICA Headquarters in Seongnam, President Soh expressed his sincere congratulations to SG Park on her appointment and wished her the best in her future endeavors at WeGO.

As the former Honorary Ambassador for KOICA, SG Park expressed her nostalgia for her previous workplace and shared her excitement in exploring various collaborative opportunities with KOICA for the coming year as the new SG of WeGO. 

As she is very well aware of the invaluable programs of KOICA, SG Park highlighted potential areas of cooperation between the two organizations. In particular, she stressed the benefits of collaboratively expanding World Friends Korea, which is the largest overseas volunteer program, managed by KOICA. Dispatching volunteers to numerous developing countries around the world, World Friends Korea is renown for promoting cooperative relationships between Korea and other countries to stimulate mutual growth through various volunteer programs. 

Furthermore, Seoul Mayor and the President of WeGO, Oh Se-hoon, was also dispatched to Lima City Hall, Peru, as a mid- to long-term advisory group for Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)’s World Friends Korea. 

These fated connections point to how WeGO and KOICA were destined to collaborate. In this respect, SG Park proposed to combine efforts in dispatching volunteers to WeGO member and partner cities to facilitate IT smart city knowledge sharing. 

The outcomes of the insightful meeting between WeGO and KOICA altogether paved the path for a deeper partnership, with numerous areas of cooperation for the following years.