Simon Park Awarded Queen's Service Medal
We are very proud to announce that Simon Park, Undergraduate Programme Manager, has been awarded a Queen's Service Medal for Services to the Korean community and education. The Queen's Service Medal recognises voluntary service to the community and elected or appointed public office. Simon received the Medal at the investiture which took place on 18 March 2014.
We are very proud to announce that Simon Park, Undergraduate Programme Manager, has been awarded a Queen's Service Medal for Services to the Korean community and education. The Queen's Service Medal recognises voluntary service to the community and elected or appointed public office. Simon received the Medal at the investiture which took place on 18 March 2014.
Simon was appointed the inaugural Chairman of the New Zealand Korean School Trust in 2012 which he helped to establish.
He played an integral role in negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding between Keimyung University, South Korea and Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) for cooperation and cross-accreditation, which was finalised in May 2012.
He has been the Undergraduate Programme Manager at the School of Information Management, VUW since 2006 and is the School’s Maori and Pacifica Student Liaison Officer.
Simon has been a Justice of the Peace (JP) for the last six years; he is one of the youngest JPs in NZ and the only Korean JP in Wellington. He has provided JP services to more than 600 people in the VUW staff/student community and offers his services at the Johnsonville CAB on Saturdays. He also led an initiative to establish the JP Service Centre at Pipitea Campus, VUW, allowing students easier access to various JP services.
In 2012 Simon was appointed an advisor to South Korea’s President, Park Geun-hye, as a member of the National Unification Advisory Council in Korea.
Simon was appointed as a future leader to represent the Korean community in NZ and attended the 16th Future Leaders Conference in Seoul, Korea, in October 2013. He made a plenary speech on behalf of attendees from all over the world. He had interviews with TV, radio and printed media and used these opportunities to actively promote NZ as a destination for safe and effective education.
Simon has helped Korean immigrants adapt and integrate into NZ culture and society. He has provided interpreting services to the Korean community as a professional interpreter and has been a mentor for the Kimchi Club whose members are Korean immigrants.
In November 2013 Simon received a Kiwibank Local Hero Award and was a semi-finalist under this category for the 2014 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year.