The Korea Post has been organizing local tours for the ambassadors and other senior diplomats for the past 31 years. The tours offer the diplomats an opportunity to see the countryside of Korea, which is very much different from Seoul and other big cities of the country.
On many occasions it takes place on weekends and this offers the country of the participating ambassador a bonus, conveying the good image of the country represented to the local Koreans, the ‘real’ Koreans (vis-?-vis the ‘cosmopolitan’ Seoulites). To the local Koreans, the foreign ambassadors are very, very important persons as they are not frequently seen there unless on very, very important occasions.
In a sense, the local people in the countryside are considered ‘real’ Koreans while Seoulites and the urbanites in other big cities are more or less a cosmopolitan people who do not have very distinct nationality.
The most important job of The Korea Post in organizing the tour is to make sure proper protocol and safety/security measures are insured for the ambassadors and other senior diplomats.
Normally, The Korea Post publishes in advance a two- or three-page article on the tour and related details about the event so that the participating ambassadors and other senior diplomats may gain a sufficient extent of information and knowledge about the event for which the tour is organized. So, the visiting diplomats already have an adequate degree of knowledge about the local tours and other events which they attend.
The participating ambassadors and other senior diplomats in the local tours are doing a great deal of service to the countries they represent in Korea. Three quarters of the Korean people live in the country side with the other quarter living in Seoul and the surrounding suburbs.
The hard-working ambassadors and other senior diplomats personally bring their country closer to the Korean people who account for three times the population of Seoul.
Some diplomats are known to go home without so much leaving Seoul or its suburbs throughout their tour of duty of three to five years in Korea. Some of them are so ‘tied-up’ with their work in Seoul that they just don’t have time to leave the Capital.
Some local tours are good and comfortable but others are not.
The Korea Post tries to do its best to make sure the tours for the ambassadors are as comfortable and safe as possible. After more than three decades of experience, The Korea Post continues its efforts to make the ‘Ambassadors’ Tours’ as comfortable and safe as possible.
In addition, The Korea Post, with its three English news publications and two Korean-language media units, tries its best to properly meet the interests of the ambassadors and their embassies in Korea.