Malaysia Wikimedians held Wikimedia sharing session in Seoul!

On June 25, 2026, Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia held a Wikimedia Sharing Session at the Wikimedia Korea office in Seoul for members of the Malaysian community living in South Korea. Exchange activities between affiliates in Korea and Malaysia have entered a new phase since the first Korea-Malaysia Exchange Edit-a-thon was successfully held on October 11 of last year. As an observer, I’d like to share the behind-the-scenes story of this event from my perspective!

Reason they come to Korea

2025년 5월 인천공항에서 출국하는 베이비몬스터 모습, 티비텐 TV10 CC BY 3.0

The impetus for this event began when Farouk came to Korea to attend a world tour concert in Seoul by the K-pop girl group Babymonster. About a month ago, he mentioned that he would be visiting Korea for about a week to attend the concert and decided to use this opportunity to gather members of the Malaysian Korean community for a Wikimedia sharing session. He contacted our association to ask if we could assist with the event, and that’s how the event came to be organized.

Meeting With Malaysia embassy in Seoul

Prior to the event, a meeting was held between representatives from the Malaysian Embassy in South Korea and the Malaysian User Group, and I had the opportunity to observe this meeting.

Activists from the Malaysia User Group gave an introduction to the Wikimedia movement and highlighted the achievements of their initiatives including our collaborative efforts. I was particularly impressed by the Malaysian User Group’s explanation that, in addition to their Wikimedia activities in Malaysia, they have traveled extensively to various countries to collaborate with local Malaysian expatriate communities and diplomatic missions. Based on these examples of collaboration with WMY from other countries, we discussed how the Malaysian Embassy in Korea, the local community, and the Malaysian User Group could collaborate, It was a fruitful session where we exchanged positive ideas on how the Wikimedia Korea could support these efforts both to enhance Malaysia’s image in Korea and to support the Wikimedia activities of the Malaysian people in Korea.

Farouk brought the Malaysian tradition to present a commemorative plaque to mark a visit, so we presented this plaque and took a commemorative photo.

June 25, Day of event

The day of the event finally arrived. Eight people participated in the Wikimedia Seoul Exchange Session, held at the Wikimedia Korea Association’s Seoul office. The participants included Malaysians living in Seoul, as well as friends with a keen interest in Korea—such as Faruk—who had come to Seoul to attend a BABYMONSTER concert. Additionally, two participants from the Korean-language community, including myself, attended and engaged in conversation with the Malaysians.

Participants learned about various Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons. Although it was a short event, participants had the opportunity to experience editing Wikimedia projects firsthand as contributors to free knowledge. They also shared their individual experiences on how the Wikimedia movement is being promoted to the public through workshops, booth promotions, partnerships, and communication with local communities. You can see the results here.

Starting from this event, Wikimedia Korea is committed to actively supporting not only the promotion of the Wikimedia movement in South Korea but also the activities of Wikimedians from around the world in South Korea, and we aim to create opportunities for them to interact with Korean Wikimedians. If you are planning to visit South Korea, please feel free to contact us at any time! We look forward to creating wonderful opportunities for Wikimedians to connect!