BEMIDJI-In celebration of the 20th year for the Korean Language Village-Sup sogŭi Hosu- at Concordia Language Villages, the organization will hold a recognition event at 10:15 a.m. on Friday, July 6. Guests will include Kenny and Simone Park, who, along with the Simone Corp., provided a $5 million lead gift to support the construction of the first phase of a culturally authentic Korean Language Village on Turtle River Lake.
Simone Corp. is the largest producer of luxury handbags in the world, including supplying products for famous brands such as Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs and Coach, according to a release.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens also will attend. Stephens was recently named president and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute, the leading think tank in Washington on U.S.-Korea relations, the release said.
The recognition will take place the same day as International Day, which is a gathering of nearly 2,000 villagers, staff, parents and guests. Held at the German Language Village, the festival brings together villagers from all language programs for singing, dancing, food and cultural learning, according to a press release.
Concordia Language Villages offers 15 world languages. The Korean Language Village will be the eighth culturally authentic site, and the first to represent an Asian language, to be constructed on an 875-acre tract of land on Turtle River Lake near Bemidji. Construction, which will include both contemporary and traditional Korean architectural design elements, will begin in the fall with a projected completion for the summer of 2020.
