Today, the Seoul City selected the Seoul honorary Citizens who love and cherish Seoul as much as its Korean resident. We are proud that Korvia teachers have been awarded as the honorary citizens, and this is the first time our couple teacher become the honorary citizens.

Benjamin Kostenbader and Monica Cymerman originally applied for EPIK program but now they are currently working at Seongdong Global Experience Center in Seoul.

As of 2018, there are now a total of 813 Honorary Citizens. They are provided with opportunities to participate in events hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and are given free entry to places such as the Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul Museum of History, and Seoul Grand Park.

Notable Honorary Citizens

  • Action star Jackie Chan, a longtime fan of Korean culture (1999)
  • Guus Hiddink, the man who took Korea’s national soccer team to the 2002 FIFA World Cup semi-finals (2002)
  • American football player Hines E. Ward (2006)
  • Former US Ambassador to Korea Christopher Hill (2005)
  • Susan Cox, VP of Holt Children’s Center and mother of adopted children (2005)
  • Raimund Royer, first non-Korean doctor of Korean medicine (2010)
  • Peter Bartholomew, guardian of hanok (traditional house of Korea) (2010)
  • Sister Maria Vertilde who has helped the needy in Korea for the past four decades (2011)
  • Anatoly Torkunov the Rector of Moscow’s State Institute of International Relations (2013)
  • Michael Sandel, the writer of 『JUSTICE』 and the professor at Harvard University(2014)
  • Suzy Menkes, the editor of 『Vogue International』 and the supervisor of “Conde Nast Conference”(2016)
  • Pierre Ory, Coauthors of 『Missellin Green Guide』 and the French school teacher(2017)