Dear AWC family and friends,
As we begin 2025, we have much to reflect on. I am personally thankful for time with family and friends, for connections to our local community in Seoul, for chances to explore, and for opportunities to build and experience community — especially within and around the American Women’s Club of Korea. Thank you to all of you for being a part of our group.
This weekend’s plane crash in Muan was a reminder that life can be very fragile. As a community, we join in the sorrow and week of national mourning, sending our deepest condolences to the families and friends who lost loved ones. We hope they will find peace and comfort in the months ahead.
The months of 2024 were busy ones for AWC Korea. We are grateful for the chances the year brought us to connect to Korea and to each other. We started January with our New Year’s Gala, which raised more than 70 million won for charity, and ended December with volunteering at Global Youth Fair.
In between, we trekked to temples and art galleries; sampled Korean teas and coffees; and explored Korean culture through books — including one by the newly-awarded Nobel Laureate Han Kang. We also celebrated International Women’s Day and took time out to learn about fashion, health and business. As president, I’m so happy to have seen so many of you — our members as well as our partners and friends — at these events.
Looking ahead to 2025, I’m excited for LOVE, our annual charity gala, taking place Feb. 7 at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. We hope to see you there as we come together to support community causes through an evening of dinner, dancing and fun. Early bird tickets are available through Jan. 15. (Get your tickets!)
I also hope to see many of you at our gatherings between now and the gala, including our monthly coffee, happy hour and book club meet-ups and a special health talk on menopause with Alice Tan, our doctor-in-residence. (See details below.)
I wish each of you love, hope, strength and health for 2025, wherever you are ringing in the new year.
Sincerely,
Betty Chung
AWC Korea President