South Korea

Editor's note: Columbia Basin Herald editor Erin Stuber was with a delegation of Grant County representatives that recently returned from Gunpo City, South Korea and reported on their visit throughout this week.

GUNPO CITY, South Korea — After a maintaining a vigorous and exhausting unflexible schedule throughout their visit to Gunpo City, South Korea, the delegation from Grant County spent Tuesday reveling in a few hours of free time spent in Seoul and reflecting on a productive week.

"There's always so much more to learn, but with each meeting, we come closer together and build a more prosperous relationship," said Caroline Spira, Grant County Economic Development Council communications and research manager. She was joined by Grant County Commissioner LeRoy Allison and his wife and Mattawa School District psychologist Benaya Allison, as well as National Frozen Foods general manager Gary Ash during the weeklong visit to Gunpo City, with which Grant County has maintained a sisterhood relationship since 2003.

For Ash, his time in Gunpo City has been like opening a door, both in his own mind and in potential business opportunities in Korea.

"I think it's healthy to break down cultural barriers," said Ash, who said he gained a new appreciation for Asian culture during the trip to Gunpo. "We're so egocentric (as Americans). We think that the world walks like we do, and they don't. We are arrogant, but we aren't arrogant for the sake of being arrogant. I think we don't know any better."

Ash also took stock of potential openings for expanding National Frozen Foods exports in South Korea during his visit.

"I think there's a market for us potentially in Korea," Ash said. "Our company is looking very hard and long at the Asian market, particularly China, but this is a piece of that puzzle."

Just taking in Korean culture through the many elaborate meals the delegation has been treated to by Gunpo City has sparked ideas for Ash, who noticed the low quality of corn in many dishes. "The stuff they eat is horrible," he said.

Ash also picked up on the strength of the Korean CEO organizations, the equivilant of the the United States' Economic Development Councils.

"The EDCs — I didn't realize they are as developed in these countries as they are, and that's an in-road for companies like ours," Ash said. "They're an entity you've got to be communicating with. They're in the know."

LeRoy Allison also expressed a newly developed understanding of Korean culture, and sees his role as that of conveying all that he has learned and experienced of Korean culture with Grant County businesses seeking to develop a business relationship there. Already, the sister city relationship with Gunpo City has enabled Heckenberg Farms in Mattawa to export hay products there, and negotiations have been ongoing to export Grant County chipping potatoes there. Agricultural products have great potential here, a possibility only those who have visited Grant County can truly understand. There simply isn't room for the type of farming Grant County residents take for granted.

"They are growing," LeRoy Allison said of Gunpo City. "They have a vibrant economy and we have products and space with which we can accomodate their needs."

As an elected official himself, learning about Gunpo City's government and those who run it has been facinating for LeRoy Allison.

"It's given me a little different perspective on our government in terms of openness of government and interaction with the people," he said, adding that he plans to work to implement some of those ideas in Grant County.

The commissioner was intrigued by Gunpo City Mayor Yoon Joo Kim's and other government officials' interactions with the citizens of Gunpo. The mayor was especially revered and obviously very much involved in a city three and a half times the size of Grant County, a fact that was particularly apparrent in public settings like a parade through downtown Saturday night when Mayor Kim was greeted eagerly by citizens.

LeRoy Allison also appreciated Gunpo City's vision and goal setting strategies, and how they have benefited the city and could benefit Grant County in a similar fashion.

"Grant County has a lot of threshholds coming up that are critical to planning," he said, specifically mentioning the critical areas ordinance and the comprehensive land use plan.

Benaya Allison's visit to Gunpo City has been fruitful as well. She was able to spend a few hours in a meeting especially arranged for her with Gunpo City High School's principal and other school staff, and was joined by the wife of Mayor Kim, who is heavily involved in local schools in Gunpo. She came away with a cornucopia of ideas about education and joint endeavors between Grant County school districts and schools in Gunpo City. Among the future plans are a Web site chat room for students on both sides of the sisterhood relationship to talk via the Internet in English. She is also working to grow student and teacher exchanges, and would like to build a program that would introduce American culture to Korean students through American crafts, books and pen pal relationships at the third grade level.

If the delegates take home one common idea from their visit to Gunpo, that notion may be summarized as expansion — expansion of the sisterhood relationship, of business dealings and of student exchanges and interactions.

"We're living in a global ecomony where we can't only think about ourselves in our small region," said Spira. "We have to branch out and explore all of the possibilities to ensure that our community can grow and prosper."

A Tuesday night farewell dinner with numerous Gunpo City officials, businessmen and journalists who had all visited Grant County on at least one of Gunpo City's prior visits was a heartfelt affair, but one that was also about looking ahead as it was about saying goodbye.

"I'm excited about their visit in a year and three months," LeRoy Allison said. The delegates engaged in several meetings during the week about the Gunpo City's expected fourth visit to Grant County in July of 2006, brainstorming ideas about how best to show them Grant County's assets in a manner that would appeal to them culturally.

LeRoy and Benaya Allison will extend their stay in Korea for a few more days as a personal vacation, as they funded their own trip there. Ash departed Wednesday morning, and Spira went on to Osaka, Japan to represent the GCEDC in another trade show.