My first trip in 2016 brought me into the Republic of Korea a fascinating country with a long history and an exciting cultural heritage. The history of Korean can be traced back 700,000 years ago, when the first people started settling in Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula. Nowadays, still many historical sites in Seoul and other places throughout the country can be visited. Korea was often a target for foreign attacks, from the North by the Mongol Empire or Chinese Emperors, from the East by Japan and in addition, Western-led expeditionary forces wanted to have influence in the country. After WW II, Korea was divided into a Northern and Southern part. In 1950, the Northern part started an invasion into the South, supported by the Soviet Union. The United States of America supported South Korea, which ended in a separation of the two parts at a demarcation line along the 38^th parallel. Today, Korea is still separated in the southern part of the “Republic of Korea” and the norther part, the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”. Both states developed in a very different pace. Whilst the Republic of Korea has transformed itself into an economic powerhouse, North Korea remains an agricultural state with low industrialisation and a lack of democracy.

Projects and “a kind of” project management have tradition in Korea, that can be traced back 200 years and more in history. Young Min Park provides a great example through a case study  regarding the overall process of management and construction of the Hwaseong Fortress and attached government buildings. More recently, the industrial upswing of South Korea, the construction sector and Government-funded projects and programmes are main drivers behind the projectification of Korea. One of the highest growth rates in the world has fuelled the project pipeline and the need for professional project management. Internal views criticize the focus on “technology” rather than “management” and ask for a new focus on professional project, programme and portfolio management. Dynamic markets and increasingly strong competition puts Korea under pressure to open up to the world and advance its management skills to a higher level. Recently, a Korean project won the prestigious IPMA Project Excellence Award namely the “Incheon Bridge Project”a six-lane bridge linking Yeongjongdo (where Incheon International Airport is located) and Songdo International City. Stretching over 21.38km, it is the largest and longest bridge in Korea. This is a good practice, that could act as “show case” and demonstrate the benefits of professional project management in the country and to an internationally interested audience.

This project and the award stimulated the Korean Government and a group of dedicated people to initiate the creation of the first Korean Project Management Association, associated with IPMA. During an inaugural event, which happened January 15^th in Seoul, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the IPMA and the Preparatory Committee was signed.  The event had a broad media coverage in Korea and IPMA Korea plans to join IPMA during the Council of Delegates meeting October 2016 in Sydney. IPMA will share its Global Standards and support IPMA Korea in establishing membership, a national award program, education and training as well as certification for individuals and organisations. IPMA Korea may support IPMA in forming AsiaNet, a network of IPMA Members in the Asian-Pacific Region with growing significance, the new “powerhouse” of IPMA.