July 7, 2010

‘Learn from the past for a brighter future’

Ongoing president J.C., fellow Rotarians and honorable guests!
I would like to welcome you all for coming to participate in this bright and promising new beginning.
First of all, I’d like to express my deep and sincere appreciation to outgoing president J.C. for his devotion to Rotary. His enthusiasm for the Rotary has helped to revitalize the club.

The motto of this year is an old Korean saying titled On-Go-Ji-Sin (溫故知新). Learn from the past for a brighter future. As the first rotary club established in 1927, we have great legacies. On one hand, we have to learn from the past of glory, on the other we should recruit new members for the brighter future. I would like to stress ‘Harmony’ between the past legacies and the new passion.
The difficulties ahead of us are still lingering. Our club activity has been steadily declining over the past decade. However, I strongly believe that Rotary club of Seoul will prosper for God’s glory will grace upon us. Here, I’d like to cordially and firmly ask all the members to take a very important role to revive the club.

First, I would like to sincerely ask all of you to recruit new members. They can be your acquaintances, colleagues, friends, families and relatives. The more you have the devotion and affection to our club, the bigger your passion for recruitment. Secondly, be free to call me or raise your hands during the meeting more frequently. Whether you have good news, sad news or any business tips, please call me and speak aloud. Thirdly, enjoy our club. Even though the number of our members has reduced, it does not mean that the fun side of the club has also decreased.

Our starting number might be the most appropriate for social mingling. If the time permits, I will ask you to talk and shake hands from one table to another, even during the session.
Finally, we have to remember the spirit of the Rotary which is service. We voluntarily joined the Rotary to serve. Please contribute with the PHF fund, charity ball tickets and other charitable works. I believe that charity work will enrich the lives of both the receiver and donator.

The theme of our Rotary International District 3650 this year under the leadership of Governor Park Young Koo is “Building Communities, Bridging Continents'. Therefore, I would like to deepen the relationship with the sister clubs in Osaka, Manila and Melbourne. I will do my best as a president and I would like to ask for your active involvement and support in doing so. Thank you, God bless you all and God bless the Rotary club of Seoul.

Yours truly in the Seoul Rotary,

Rotarian C. H. (Cheol-Ho Paik)
President 2010-2011

2010-07-19 11:30:24

January 6, 2010

New Year’s Greetings


Dear Fellow Rotarians,

I would like to express my sincere and profound appreciation to all of you, fellow Rotarians, for all the work and support that you provided last year as members of the Rotary Club of Seoul.

In spite of the lingering effects of the financial crisis that affected every part of our community and the rest of the world, we have accomplished a lot as a Rotary Club. Many of you made generous donations and personally participated in charitable events held or sponsored by our Club.

In the New Year, let’s once again renew our pledge to live by the spirit and ideals of Rotary and work together to make sure that our Club lives up to its name as the oldest and best Rotary Club in Korea.

I look forward to working closely with you as fellow Rotarians in the New Year, and I wish all of you good health and happiness in the New Year and beyond!

J. C. Jung
President,
The Rotary Club of Seoul

2010-01-06 16:13:39

December 16, 2009


Christmas Messages from President J. C.


Dear Fellow Rotarians and Family members:

Merriest and Happy Christmas to everyone!

For the Rotary Club of Seoul, this Christmas Family Dinner is more special than
previous Christmas Family Dinners, because this year, we are able to celebrate
Christmas with fellow Rotarians and family members, as well as our young friends at Sundukwon.

Let’s all be thankful for what God has given us and be cognizant of the fact that
we are blessed to be Rotarians who are given chances to share good wishes, deeds
and gifts with others in and outside of our community.

Let’s renew our pledge to live by the spirit and ideals of Rotary!


J. C. Jung
President,
The Rotary Club of Seoul

2009-12-17 16:57:30

July 8, 2009

'The Future of our Rotary Club is in Your Hands'

Outgoing President Seachang, fellow Rotarians and honorable guests!

I want to thank you all for coming to participate in this auspicious and promising new beginning.

I’d like to express my sincere and heart-felt appreciation to outgoing President Seachang and the board members for their leadership and devotion towards the success of our club during the Rotary year 2008-2009.

I, especially, would like to recognize the contributions and efforts made by our outgoing President Seachang. Among many of his outstanding achievements include, turning our Rotary club into a financially solid and sound Rotary club and creating the conditions and atmosphere friendly and conducive for qualified potential members to join our club as new members. Under his leadership, our club has made a lot of progress, despite the difficult economic and financial conditions here in Korea, as well as around the world. A number of excellent young new members have joined our club, and many of our relatively new members are participating actively in our club activities, with the support and encouragement from our senior members, who are the backbone of our Club.

I feel extremely honored to become the President of the Rotary Club of Seoul, the oldest and the parent or grandparent Rotary club to all the other Rotary clubs in Korea. At the same time, I am fully cognizant of the heavy responsibility that I take on today as new President. I am inheriting the great achievements of my predecessors, and I have the responsibility of upholding our great tradition and past accomplishments. At the same time, I have been called upon to build upon our past achievements and stand in front in our effort to maintain our Rotary Club as the kind of Rotary club that our predecessors envisioned decades ago. This, we all know, is maintaining our club as the best Rotary club in Korea, not only in name but in reality as well. This is a real formidable challenge!

To meet this challenge, I believe that we have to live up to the fundamental spirit and ideal of Rotary: Fellowship and Service. We have to become brothers and sisters in Rotary. Brothers and sisters may sometimes disagree on some issues, but we all have to work together to achieve our common Seoul Rotary family goals. We have to get to know each other better like brothers and sisters and build a solid fraternal bond in Rotary. After that, we have to help each other and work together whenever we can. Once we have this solid foundation as brothers and sisters in Rotary, we can effectively carry out service projects of the Rotary International, our 3650 District and our Rotary Club of Seoul. During the past year, with the help and participation of all of our members, we have made a lot of progress in this effort.

As we all know, we, as a club, have helped, either directly or indirectly, thousands of needy persons in the Korean peninsula, as well as around the world. We should always remember and be proud of this. At this time, I would like to call upon every member of our Rotary club to reaffirm our pledge to continue to make this effort in the Rotary year 2009-2010 and beyond. I will do my best as President, but I need help and participation of each and every member of our club. “The future of the Rotary Club of Seoul is truly in your hands”.

The theme of our Rotary International District 3650 this year under the leadership of our Governor Young Suk Yoon is “the Rotarians in Action!” Let’s all become true Rotarians in Action!

Yours in Seoul Rotary,

J. C. Jung

2009-07-13 14:04:24

Jan. 7, 2009

New Year’s Greetings by President Seachang


Dear Fellow Rotarians,

First of all I would like to express my special thanks to all of you, fellow Rotarians, for all the supports that you provided last year.

In spite of unexpected financial crisis socked all over the world including Korea, thank to the sincere efforts and generous contributions that you made, it has been possible that we fulfilled our goal last year as below.

1) Job Training Program (A-Ran-Won)
2) Support to the Disabled (Kyonam Somang House)
3) The Charity Concert for North Korean Children
4) Korea Rotarian’s Day Donation
5) The Charity Concert for Foreign Workers(Hospital for foreign migrant workers)
6) Soy milk for North Korean Children
7) Support to Rotaract & Interact (Ewha Rotaract, Interota 2008, Hwikyung Interact,)
8) Donation for the District 3650 Governor Song Hyon Jang
9) Others (Allotment for District Conference, Intra-City & District Meeting- District Inauguration, Membership Strengthening Seminar)


I would like to see 2009 as a year we made certain achievements of our club’s. It is my true desire extending my heart-felt appreciation to all member Rotarians for, again, the efforts and contributions that you made last year.


I hope that your dreams come true in 2009 and you move on for the bright future.

Looking ahead for 2009, I would like to see club focusing on the followings:
1. Recruit more new members, young or old, male or female to the extent that the club as a whole can become more active and proactive in many activities we are engaged in.
2. Further strengthen the bond between Rotarians, both individual-wise and club-wise by encouraging each other to participate more actively in our activities starting with weekly meetings.
3. Also continue to execute remained projects for the poor and those who are suffering from sickness, loneliness and difficulties.

Once again, I truly wish you all the best in 2009 and may God bless every one of you and your family members.

Happy New Year!!!

Yours ever,

President Seachang Rhee

2009-01-07 15:53:42