Study Trip to Germany
South Korean Gyeonggi Province Learns about German Border Regions

In total, 28 officials from the Gyeonggi provincial government, the county and municipalities participated in the trip. The study group visited, like already the previous groups from recent years, the Wall Museum, inheritances of division in Berlin as well as in Chemnitz and the former inner German border. In addition, the participants had the opportunity to visit both national borders with Poland and the Czech Republic. For this purpose, Frankfurt an der Oder and Slubice (border towns between Germany and Poland) and Marktredwitz and Cheb (Eger) (border towns between Germany and the Czech Republic) were visited, where the participants were able to get very unique impressions.

The group was especially interested in learning how the border regions have developed after the collapse of the Iron Curtain. As the Gyeonggi Province is also a direct border region with North Korea, participants were hoping, for instance through direct talks with the respective administrations, to obtain interesting approaches for a possible development of the inner Korean border region. All in all, the study trip was an educational experience for the Gyeonggi Province officials.

At the end of the program, the study participants visited the headquarters of Hanns Seidel Foundation in Munich and the Krailling municipality in Bavaria, where they were able to find out about the role of the German political foundation and the Bavarian municipal self-government.