By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff reporter
Actress Han Go-eun, 35, was named a goodwill ambassador to the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Friday for her active charity work in Peru.
The aid agency is scheduled to announce another goodwill ambassador, Rep. Cho Yoon-sun of the ruling Grand National Party, next Tuesday.
If the lawmaker is named for the position, KOICA will have four goodwill ambassadors including Park Jung-sook, professor of Kyung Hee University, and GNP lawmaker Hong Jung-wook.
Han began her entertainment career as a supermodel in 1995 and appeared in numerous TV dramas and films.
Recently, she was a member of a medical volunteer team in Peru with several KOICA overseas volunteers.
In a press release, the aid agency said it appointed Han as a goodwill ambassador to raise public awareness of overseas volunteer projects and aid to the less developed world.
In her acceptance speech, Han said she was deeply impressed by the dedication and devotion by KOICA volunteers during her recent trip to Peru and proud of the aid agency for the caring work in the country.
“Rep. Cho is active in collaboration projects with the countries that had sent troops to South Korea during the Korean War,” a KOICA staffer told The Korea Times, asking not to be named.
“As KOICA offers aid to some of those countries, we reached a conclusion that Rep. Cho shared a lot in common with us regarding values and thus decided to name her as our goodwill ambassador.”
A lawyer-turned-politician, Cho is a first-term lawmaker and previously served as spokeswoman for the ruling GNP.