Seodaemun-gu officially received Finnish Ambassador to Korea Jyri Järviaho at the district office and discussed cooperation in youth entrepreneurship, education and culture, the district announced Monday.
"I hope we can achieve mutual development through continued exchange across a wide range of fields," District Mayor Park Woon-ki said. Ambassador Järviaho responded in kind, saying he hoped to "identify concrete cooperation projects with Seodaemun-gu and expand exchanges between both sides."
The meeting focused on ways to link Seodaemun-gu's flagship youth entrepreneurship policy with Finland's innovation and startup ecosystem.
Participants explored the possibility of connecting Slush — the globally recognized startup event held annually in Helsinki — with the district's youth entrepreneurship promotion initiative in the Sinchon and Ewha University area, as well as plans to build a global startup network among the nine universities within Seodaemun-gu.
The two sides also exchanged views on cooperation in education and culture. They shared examples of existing collaboration between Yonsei University and the University of Helsinki, and discussed expanding inter-university exchanges and educational partnerships. Proposals for cultural exchange were also raised, including a potential performance by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea.
The Finnish Embassy introduced the country's world-class education system, innovation ecosystem and work-life balance culture, and proposed sustaining cooperation across diverse fields.
Seodaemun-gu and the Finnish Embassy agreed to identify concrete cooperation projects and maintain steady exchanges in youth entrepreneurship, education, culture and international affairs, with the shared goal of building a model of exemplary collaboration between a local government and a foreign embassy.
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