Peter Jaegeul Song, Staff Reporter at Asia N
COVID-19 has brought about the violent changes in every aspect of living across the continents and cultures. Social distancing, also called physical distancing, is bringing about the changes in the behaviour of our neighbours. Those whose jobs are maintaining communications with the public, namely the government officials, are coming forward with innovative ways of interacting with their people.
Especially the national holidays are the times when the state heads around the world beat their heads to find out the ways to have more amicable relationships with the public. This time round, the Republic of Korea has tried something new on its national holiday to shock the world once again with its reformative methods that have not been tried out before.
May 5th is the day when Koreans celebrate so-called Children’s Day. It is the day when we cherish the potential and preciousness of the future generation of Korea by giving our children whatever they want. I, too, was gifted with many unforgettable presents on this day of my childhood.
Before the era of high-technology took its dominance over everything, Children’s Day was the time when I could freely roam around the fields thick with wild flowers along with my friends. The early 90s still had the beauty of nature in Seoul and I was busy soaking up every precious moment of Children’s Day in the playgrounds of my town.
The scenes are now different. With countless kids stuck with the games on smartphones, we cannot expect them to be imbued with the joy of living alongside nature on this specific day. This is what the Blue House has realised too.
The President of Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-In, has decided to greet the children in Minecraft. The President and the First Lady, Kim Jung-sook, have appeared on the entrance of Blue House that is artificially built within the world of Minecraft so as to appear more tech-friendly. The video shows the pair wishing the best for the kids and guiding them through the Blue House, the Korean presidential residence. It is the first attempt of this kind and kids are loving it. Who would have thought the head of the country would be communicating with the kids on the world of Minecraft?
[2020 Children’s Day at the virtual Blue House in Minecraft]
History will tell what this encounter means to Korea and its future generations as a whole. The Korea people have successfully defended its children successfully against COVID-19 and it is now opening the new doors to new areas of communication.
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