Join us at our first Asia After Five event, hosted by the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono at their Christchurch office - ChristchurchNZ, Level 3 BNZ Centre (West), 101 Cashel Street.

Hear from Philip Turner, New Zealand's Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, for his take on the diversity of contemporary South Korean society, changing social and political attitudes, and pop culture - among other themes.

Our Asia After Five events are interactive. You will have the chance to ask questions, network with others, and learn from informed experts on Asia. This event will be held under Chatham House rule.

Please join us for nibbles and drinks from 5.30pm. It is a free event, but please RSVP for catering purposes.

Access to the building - lifts are adjacent to Spark store, ground floor BNZ Centre.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

HE Philip Turner

Philip Turner is New Zealand's Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. He was appointed New Zealand Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in March 2018.

Philip is concurrently Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). He has extensive experience as a diplomat and a business leader in North Asia.

With the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, he served on postings to the senior positions in Shanghai, Tokyo, Brussels and Auckland.

Philip attended the University of Auckland in New Zealand where he graduated with a First Class Master of Arts in History. He speaks fluent French and Japanese, conversational Chinese, and is enjoying becoming acquainted with the Korean language. Philip is joined in Seoul by his partner Hiroshi Ikeda. Philip and Hiroshi are passionate about embracing diversity in our society.

(pictured below)

(MC/speaker) Pang Suwanaposee - Business Intern

Pang was a Wilson Parking business intern in 2017, based in Seoul.

Shortly after graduating from the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in software engineering in 2019, she started working as a software engineer at Verizon Connect. However, she is now working part-time as a software engineer as she is pursuing a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Canterbury.

Since returning from doing her internship, Pang has kept in regular contact with her friends from South Korea and has found an opportunity to help teach English to Korean students, which she does every week in her spare time.

(pictured below)