Tourism veteran now private envoy in Britain

Kim Chong-min

A Korean tourism veteran living in Britain has taken up the role as a private envoy by helping people from his home country when they visit Britain.

Kim Chong-min, managing director at Planet London Tour, was a key member of the support team for the late President Roh Moo-hyun’s state visit to Britain in 2004.

“At the time, I was head of the operations division at a different travel agency. When the late President Roh visited Britain, we cooperated with the then Korean Ambassador and two other travel agencies, and supported him by arranging cars, drivers, guards, etc.,” he said during an interview with The Korea Times on Tuesday.

The 47-year-old recalled the memory of seeing Roh in person.

“As far as I remember, in reality he looked exactly the same as when he was on TV. He smiled and was gentle all the time. He commended our hard work every morning,” Kim said.

“The most memorable occasion was Roh staying in Buckingham Palace. He slept in a hotel for the first night as he arrived at Heathrow Airport late at night and he went to the palace, where the Queen of England resides, the next morning.” Roh stayed at the palace for two nights, a first for a Korean president.

“The day he left for Seoul, our support team saw him off at the airport. When he waved good-bye to us, I felt it was worth doing the job and it still remains in my memory.”

Kim said he was really shocked when he heard of Roh’s death. “Because of my memory of meeting him in person, I was particularly shocked. I even cried and talked about him with people I worked with during Roh’s state visit.”

When the Korean destroyer Chungmugong Yi Sun-Shin and combat support ship Cheonji visited Britain to attend the bicentennial of the Battle of Trafalgar with approximately 650 crewmembers including naval cadets, it was Kim that organized their tour schedule and meals. “I had experience of supporting 300-400 people but event management for 650 people was really huge. It was hard to organize everything,” he said.

Kim played an important role in delivering Korean culture to Britain during the 2012 London Olympics by helping various performing groups with schedules and moving around the country.

Kim, also an assistant professor in tourism and event management at Pai Chai University, is currently focusing on Korean children heading to Britain to study.

“I talk to them even before they leave for Britain and support from the beginning such as researching schools and consultation on their major,” he said. “We manage one student for a minimum of four to five years until they finally go to university. I feel happy, when I see them entering the university they want.” <The Korea Times/Jun Ji-hye>

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