Daily Busan
A conversation with German resident Florian Klewitz
The Korea Heart to Heart (K2H) Program is an international exchange initiative launched in 1999 to provide local government officials from around the world with firsthand experience of Korea’s administrative systems. The program aims to promote mutual understanding and strengthen global cooperation by immersing participants in Korea's public sector.
As part of this year’s exchange, Busan is hosting Florian Klewitz, a municipal officer from Hamburg, Germany, currently working at Busan City Hall. Daily Busan spoke with Mr. Klewitz about his experiences in Korea and his thoughts on the future cooperation between Hamburg and Busan.
Q. Could you please introduce yourself?
A. My name is Florian Klewitz, and I’m 34 years old. I'm a civil servant from Hamburg. I'm kind of a management lawyer trainee. For 13 years before, I was a police officer. As a police officer, I was under a lot of stress because I always had to fight with people. Everyone is always angry at you, and I didn't like it anymore. Also, I was a bit bored intellectually and wanted a new challenge. The hardest thing I thought I could do was to study law, so I enrolled at Hamburg University in 2016 and became a lawyer.
Q. What brought you from Hamburg to Busan?
One day, I got a letter from the HR department about the Korea Heart to Heart (K2H) Program, which invites foreign civil servants to Korea for six months. I had time to decide and thought it would be a nice experience because I had never lived in a foreign country. I thought it would be great to be here on my own, learning about the culture and language. Also, it's not a normal thing for civil servants to have the possibility to be in a foreign country for so long. So I decided to take part in it and I’m here now.
Q. Please tell me about your current role and responsibilities at Busan City Hall.
I work in the International Department of Busan City Hall. My role is to help the International Department connect with Hamburg. So if something happens that has to do with Germany or Hamburg, I’m there to help and to make some connections, especially in the Hamburg administration. That's the main part of my role.
Q. What has impressed you the most about life in Busan so far?
The tall buildings. We don't have tall buildings like this in Hamburg or even in Germany. I think that's because Busan has a lot of mountains that make it challenging to build out instead of up. In Germany, we have flat terrain, so we can build wider and don't have to build so high. I also think everything in Busan is very nice and clean, especially on the subway or buses. It's very quiet and clean.
Q. Hamburg and Busan have a cooperative relationship. What similarities or complementary aspects do you see between the two cities?
As far as I know, Busan has the biggest harbor in South Korea, and Hamburg has the biggest harbor in Germany. I think the biggest part that connects both cities is the harbor. Also, both Busan and Hamburg are the second biggest cities in their countries, and both cities are among the most beautiful cities in the world.
Q. How would you like to see the relationship between Hamburg and Busan develop?
I think the relationship between Hamburg and Busan is not as deep as it could be. We don't have a sister city agreement yet, so maybe that kind of relationship is possible. If that happens, that would be a great thing for both cities.
<Today's Vocabulary - 오늘의 단어>
exchange: 교환 administrative: 행정적인 mutual: 상호간의 cooperation: 협력 municipal officer: 시 공무원 intellectually: 지적으로 enroll: 등록하다 invite: 초대하다 possibility: 가능성 terrain: 지형 harbor: 항구
Editor: Song Soomi
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