From left: Kelly, Hyun-o and KangSoo
Time flies. In the blink of an eye, 2014 has come and gone.
As a result of the Memorandum of Understanding between ICANN and Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA) in 2013, I joined the ICANN APAC team in January 2014.
A year later, I am sad to bid farewell to my fellow colleagues who have welcomed me to the ICANN family. Yet I’m excited to start a new chapter as I move on to head up KISA’s newly formed Internet Governance division.
So much has taken place in the short span of a year. Together with KangSoo Song, we helped to establish the ICANN Seoul office and expand our presence in Korea. Meeting the different stakeholders, explaining ICANN’s role and encouraging participation and involvement became our daily routine.
I also had the privilege to work alongside a wonderful team of passionate and enthusiastic colleagues on some key initiatives. I will always remember working closely with Jia-Rong Low to develop the language localization toolkit for use by the regional community. This toolkit is now available on the APAC Community Wiki and is available for other members of the community to leverage as well.
I have certainly grown and learnt a lot during this past one year and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the ICANN team for the excellent collaboration. I am very happy that we’ll have many more opportunities to work together again in my new role.
Taking over from me to head up the ICANN Seoul Office is a dear colleague of mine – Hyun-o Kwon.
Hyun-o brings with her more than 14 years of experience in KISA. She had previously led the information security policy team and most recently, the human resource team in KISA.
Hyun-o is no stranger to the Korean registrars, having worked with them closely in her previous capacity. Together with KangSoo Song, they will continue to lead engagement efforts with the local Korean stakeholders, increase awareness, foster dialogue and promote participation in ICANN’s work.
Please extend a warm welcome to Hyun-o. I’m sure that with your support, Hyun-o will be able to succeed and be an effective member of the ICANN APAC team in no time.
Kelly HyeYoung KANG was the former Head of Korea for ICANN APAC