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Immigrant professor hopes Vietnamese village in rural county will make Korea 'the most exemplary multicultural country in the world'

Published: 19 Aug. 2025, 15:21

Do Ngoc Luyen, a 47-year-old professor at Kwangwoon University originally from Vietnam, poses for photos during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at the Chunghyo House, or Chunghyodang, in Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang, on Aug. 18. [KIM JUNG-SEOK]

BONGHWA, North Gyeongsang — “The goal is to make Korea the most exemplary multicultural country in the world. The Vietnamese village being built in Bonghwa will mark the beginning.”

Do Ngoc Luyen, a 47-year-old professor at Kwangwoon University originally from Vietnam, spoke while seated on the wooden floor of the traditional Hwasan Lee clan house next to Chunghyodang — or Chunghyo House — in Bongseong-myeon, Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang, on Monday.

Luyen often visits Chunghyodang. At first glance, the contrast between the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) hanok (traditional Korean housing) and the ao dai (traditional Vietnamese outfit) she was wearing seemed stark — until one learns that the area once hosted a community of descendants from the Vietnamese Ly Dynasty, which makes her affinity for the place easier to understand.

'Drew in by the Asian Dragon'

Luyen was recently appointed a promotional ambassador for Bonghwa County. With a population of around 28,000, the rural county’s decision to name a Vietnamese immigrant as its ambassador raises questions — as does her plan to create a Vietnamese village there.

Her relationship with Korea dates back nearly 30 years.

Do Ngoc Luyen, a 47-year-old professor at Kwangwoon University originally from Vietnam, poses for photos with Park Hyun-guk, the Mayor of Bonghwa County, after being appointed the honorary ambassador for the North Gyeongsang region on Aug. 6. [BONGHWA-GUN]

"I first became interested in the country after hearing it described on TV as the 'dragon of Asia,'" she said. "I also wanted to know why Vietnam had not become a dragon as Korea had."

While Korean pop culture is now known worldwide, in the 1990s, there was not even a word for “Hallyu.” Yet Luyen entered the Korean studies department at Ho Chi Minh University in 1996 — only the second year since it had opened.

"Others tried to dissuade me because I didn’t know any Korean, and I even had to begin learning with the Korean alphabet in college," she said.

After graduation, while working, Luyen was encouraged to study abroad by a university in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang, which she had encountered at a study abroad fair in Vietnam in 2002. She decided to go, she said, because she still had not found an answer to why Korea became Asia’s dragon.

Degrees from Seoul National, Yonsei

She began her studies in Korea shortly after and moved to Seoul the following year, believing she needed to be in the capital to study properly. In 2003, she was admitted to the master's program in Korean language education at Seoul National University. In 2010, she began a doctoral program in Korean language and literature at Yonsei University and earned her degree in 2015.

During her doctoral studies, Luyen also took part in volunteer work — an experience that prompted her to think more about the Vietnamese community in Korea.

"I often encountered Vietnamese immigrants in difficult situations and wanted to ensure others didn’t go through what I had gone through," she said. This led her to found the Puzamin community, which helps Vietnamese immigrants settle and become self-reliant.

From 2014, she conducted fund-raising for five years and established Wono Temple — or Wonosa — a Vietnamese Buddhist temple, in Cheonan, South Chungcheong. Hoping to improve their financial literacy, she also translated Korean economics books into Vietnamese.

"The temple quickly became a refuge when the Covid-19 pandemic began, with many Vietnamese visiting to share their struggles," she said.

Her work for the Vietnamese community also inspired her to envision a Vietnamese village — one with schools, markets, restaurants and banks, where immigrants could build stable lives.

“One day, Bonghwa County reached out for advice on its K-Vietnam Valley project," Luyen said. "When I visited the village near Chunghyodang with Bonghwa County Mayor Park Hyun-guk, I was moved to find it looked almost exactly like what I had imagined. I even learned about the Ly Dynasty history that isn’t taught in the standard Vietnamese curriculum — and it gave me chills.”

Imagined village becomes reality

The K-Vietnam Valley project is rooted in Bonghwa’s ties to the Ly Dynasty, the first unified and longest-ruling dynasty in Vietnamese history.

In 1126, Lee Yong-sang (1174-?) — a descendant of the Ly royal family — fled a coup and sought asylum in Goryeo (918-1392). He was granted the surname Lee and formed a clan community in the Bonghwa region. The project envisions recreating a traditional Vietnamese village, Ly Dynasty heritage sites and facilities for training and lodging, with Chunghyodang as a central tourist attraction.

Now a promotional ambassador for the county, Luyen is focused on developing the Vietnamese village and promoting Bonghwa’s ties with Vietnam. She also served as an interpreter during the state visit of To Lam, secretary general of the Vietnamese Communist Party, who became the first foreign leader to visit under the Lee Jae Myung administration on Aug. 11. During the event, Luyen introduced this historical connection between the two countries.

“There will be a statue unveiling ceremony for the Ly Dynasty and a roof-raising ceremony for the multicultural community center at Chunghyodang on Aug. 24, marking the start of the Vietnamese village,” Luyen said. “We want to create a space where the cultures of Korea and Vietnam harmonize — and this will be a turning point in that effort.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JUNG-SEOK [[email protected]]