13 October 2021 | UCLG ASPAC is proud to support the initiative of South Korean Government in promoting the spirit of relentlessness to restart and rechallenge (even after failure) through World Rechallenge Forum.
Hosted by the Ministry of Interior and Safety (MoIS) and Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Start-up (MSS), the World Rechallenge Forum event was organised under the framework of Fail Expo. Starting in 2018, Fail Expo was at its fourth round this year. It is not just a government-led expo but has involved more than 1.5 million Koreans to participate (2020), such as through the establishment of cooperation, policy, and community change to overcome failure. This year, the event is held nationwide in Korea from May to December.
Gracing the event was Mr. Jeon Hae-cheol, Minister of the Interior and Safety, who in the opening remarks highlighted the importance of fostering a social climate that generously embraces failures and creating a social system to help those who fail to get back to their feet. Regarding the event, he mentioned “… The World Rechallenge Forum will help us rediscover the value of failure through lively discussions and sharing of related cases by the public, private, and business. In addition, it will provide a new opportunity to expand our common value regarding failure and re-challenge to the international community.” Further, he expressed his expectation “…We will do our best to enable the fail expo to become a catalyst for creating a new momentum for individuals and the nation; so, we are going to make sure that the contents of this expo become more concrete and more substantial going forward,” and that “For those who experienced failures to be empowered to rise again without losing their heart and giving up, we need to become a society that tolerates and embraces failures.”
Mr. Kwon Chil-seung, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Start-ups also highlighted the forum that was organised for the first time, “Today we are faced with rapid environmental changes such as COVID-19, climate change, and digital transition. Amidst this massive transformation, it is inevitable for some companies to fail at one point in time. Therefore, it is high time for the government to bring changes to existing policies to help those failed companies.”
In relation to the global solidarity, Secretary General Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, representing UCLG ASPAC, shared that she witnessed the strong solidarity spirit among cities and regions in Asia-Pacific and highlighted the key words including comprehensive partnership and collaboration. “… People-centred cooperation and people-centred development can always work and this is what we put as a priority to understand the needs of society (and) to understand the need of people. That is where local governments play (their) important role.”
In line with it, Mr. Kwon Sun-phil, Chairman of Experts Consultation Committee of Fail Expo, said “We have found that in order to socially support re-challenge and facilitate this process, various forms of new connections and cooperation are needed. In the end, overcoming failure must lead to various innovations such as technology innovation, social innovation, government innovation, administrative innovation…”
2021 Fail Expo is organised to encourage and support Koreans affected by COVID-19 to recover and restart on new challenges. This year, MOIS and MSS also co-hosted Declaration Ceremony for the 2021 Fail Expo and Inauguration Ceremony for National Supporters Again on 25 May to promote a culture of challenging yourself again for a new start even after failures. This year’s event is about expanding the culture of new starts across the country through stronger partnerships between entities, such as local governments and central government agencies.
UCLG ASPAC is glad to contribute and be part of this great initiative aiming to support local people towards recovery and also to spread the awareness and spirit beyond.
