FNF Alumni Excursion to the Tongdosa temple

In early September, the Korea office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) hosted its traditional annual two-day excursion for FNF’s former scholarship holders. Around twenty people took part. This year the destination was the head temple Tongdosa, Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province. The temple was founded 646 and houses Buddha relics. It is the biggest temple in South Korea.

After the arrival at a smaller sub-temple on the vast area of the Tongdosa temple group, the particpants took part in a tea ceremony with the head monk. In the early afternoon, two presentations were held. The first one was held by Lars-André Richter and Tim Brose and covered the topic of the current situation at the Korean Peninsula. The second presentation concentrated on Industry 4.0 and how the German format "science slam" could open the topic to a broader audience. The two presentations were met with great interest and a wide range of questions from the audience. In the evening the group received the honour to get a guided tour around Tongdosa main temple and was also offered to join a Buddhist ceremony.

On the second day, the group was invited to join a natural dyeing workshop which was an unforgettable experience. FNF would like to thank all participants for their active and interested engagement during the political and cultural program.