▲ Photo by Kim Sueun, Team Oh my news

[This article is written by a JDC Junior Journalist. The JDC Junior Journalist program is an educational project sponsored by Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC). JDC Junior Journalist articles are only briefly edited by mentors before publishing.]

With lots of excitement, Junior Journalists took their second step for interviewing and preparing for writing articles. The place they visited was JDC, which is a public enterprise that make efforts to develop Jeju as an international city. In JDC headquarters there was an exhibition room on the first floor. The chairman held the press conference in the conference room on the fourth floor. When they entered the interviewing room, everyone was quite surprised because it was a press conference style that felt really professional. As the chairman came into the conference room to chat with Junior Journalists, they asked their questions perfectly in a row to get as much information as possible.

Before he started to answer questions, he briefly introduced why the enterprise was established. He said, “ After the financial crisis broke out in 1997, Korean government decided to make a team to develop Jeju. Having many advantages like geological locations, stable infrastructure, tradition and natural beauty, they thought Jeju had lots of potentials to lead the country’s development.”

The first question was about what image of an international city he has in mind. He said that free and active movement of people, products, and capital is crucial for being an international city. He added that since Jeju is a no-visa area and it emphasizes tourism (so Jeju won’t be an imitation of other city), it has improved a lot. After that, the chairman was asked why he propelled the junior journalist program. He answered that by increasing the quality of human resources, we can inherit good atmosphere to our offsprings. Next question was what people’s lives would be like after Jeju become an international city. He said, “After Jeju becomes an international city, it would attract lots of foreign companies and activate tourism industry. Then, we, JDC and government, would have more money which we could spend to make welfare policies and other policies which can also benefit students like you. With that money, we are planning to hold English camp during summer vacation and give out scholoarships.”

Then, Junior Journalists watched 7 minutes of a promotion video which gave information about main project JDC is currently working on. Lastly, students asked what are some of chairman’s favorite projects and he shyly answered that his two favorites are English education city and Health care town projects, because his own priorities are education and health.

After finishing a meaningful interview, employees and junior journalists took a picture together down at the entrance. Later that day, at the reflective presentation of junior journalists, they said that it was a good experience to sit in a conference room and interview someone in the real job field. Hopefully, junior journalists would grow into talented adults and contribute to local society.