Korea has a program where young people support agricultural products exports to enter emerging markets. It is the Agrifood Frontier Leader Organization (AFLO), operated by Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT). Since its introduction in 2017, a total of 435 young people have participated in this program so far this year. Although domestic activities were held in Korea instead of overseas mainly due to the impact of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, AFLO activities are bringing a fresh air into Korean agricultural products exports. <Korea Agrafood> met Bang Min-soo, an active AFLO member this year.

Q. Please briefly introduce yourself and explain why you applied for AFLO.
“I am currently a 4th year college student, majoring in International Trade. I am usually interested in Korean agricultural products, so I once applied for a youth trade expert nurturing project by a Korean association. Through this project, I helped a Korean food corporation export to Amazon in the U.S. It was fun and rewarding to help Korean companies export and to be involved in the actual export process. That’s why I applied for AFLO to play a role in supporting and helping the export of Korean agricultural products, which I was interested in.”

Q. What kind of activities did you do as an AFLO member?
“I carried out activities from June to September 2021. First, I oversaw the Cambodian market, so I uploaded the local market research results to the blog, and assisted in the local aT branch's on-site marketing, influencer recruitment, and SNS management. I also participated in the market research of Vietnam, the main export target for Korean companies, by analyzing the distribution environment of the Vietnamese e-commerce market and directly finding buyers. During these activities, I focused on to increasing the objectivity of data and statistics to give trust to Korean buyers and exporters.”

Q. How did overseas consumers or buyers evaluate Korean agricultural products?
“What I clearly felt while working as an AFLO member is that overseas consumers view Korean agricultural products positively. For example, we sent samples of Korean agricultural products to overseas buyers and checked that they gave us favorable responses, so it led to exports. Also, promoting Korean agricultural products through social media to Cambodians, the country I was overseeing, increased the number of followers and likes. This reaction shows that Korean agricultural products are favorably evaluated by locals. We especially drew much better responses when we held a social media event that local consumers directly participated. It was unfortunate that I could not carry out overseas activities due to COVID-19, but I was proud that I took the lead in promoting Korean agricultural products.”

Q. What kind of activities would you like to do in the future?
“When I applied localized marketing to promote Korean agricultural products during AFLO activities, I felt that locals grew more familiar with Korean agricultural products and had a good impression. For example, an event sharing  ramyeon recipes on social media drew high interest with various recipes using local ingredients. Based on my experience as an AFLO member, I want to work in a field that contributes to the export of Korean agricultural products.”