korea trip 2025 (Spring & Fall)
The purpose of the Korea Trip Spring 2025 was to check out the potential of Jeju as the main venue for the Planet Earth Village School, our new program that will officially launch in 2026. A small group of selected Kentucky folks who support and believe in the BaeNaChi mission and vision flew to Korea on a preliminary trip with this main goal in mind. For over a week, we explored the different parts of Jeju, the biggest island in South Korea which is about the size of Lexington and Louisville combined. From government agencies to nonprofits and community groups, many new promising connections and partnership possibilities emerged. We were able to feel the excitement about our presence and the BaeNaChi mission from the many local folks we met. And we were equally excited about the potential of Jeju as the main stage for our future program. Special thanks to our Korea trip 2025 participants: Tosha Larson and her teen daughters Lily and Ellie representing Levee in Lexington, Teddy Wimer from Appalshop in Whitesburg, Eric King and James Stapleton from Letcher County supporting Cowan Community Action Group, and our founders Dr. An and Rick Montgomery.
The Sunchang friends who visited Kentucky in November 2024 came to Jeju from Sunchang for a special 2-day reunion with our KY team. We had an awesome farm-to-table party, field trips to local tourist spots, and an exciting talent show of our own. Very grateful for this precious connection we have with Sunchang. After the Sunchang team’s Jeju visit, three from the KY team followed them to Sunchang to make a special visit with some children in the village. The three lucky KY folks also got an opportunity to appear on a popular TV program during their Sunchang visit. Korean Master Chef Chunja Yu, one of our Sunchang friends, was featured on the TV show to talk about her famous Gochujang. We were told that it was the first time that foreigners appeared on that TV show. What a special memory!
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The preliminary trip in spring 2025 was a success. Yet, we felt that most of the new connections we had made in Jeju during this trip required more work to fully develop into strong partnerships. That’s why we made a second preliminary trip to Jeju in October 2025. Tosha and Tozcha from LeVee in Lexington, KY, accompanied Ann for this trip. We were able to form a strong bond with our main partner group from a local community center and made friends with many other groups and individuals. The second trip to Jeju gave us sufficient confidence in our decision to make Jeju the BaeNaChi homebase in South Korea. We are thrilled to run our programs on this beautiful island in collaboration with so many amazingly talented and kind-hearted people!