Actualités • Interview • Portraits

France Korea Next Generation #7 Sonia, Thomas & Olivia | Glance into French journeys in Korea

Le 01/09/2021

Here is the seventh episode of our series “France Korea Next Generation” by the French-Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) in partnership with the French Embassy in Korea!

Today, meet with Sonia, Thomas and Olivia, who share about their journey and passions in South Korea.

Subtitles are available in English and in Korean!

Sonia CHAEIB

Sonia, 28 years old, has lived in Korea for 5 years and did her master's thesis in Korea on the commercial ties development between France and Korea in the agribusiness sector. She is currently working as commercial executive at the French Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As a former gymnast at competitive level, Korea has allowed her to develop her openness to and knowledge of a very growing, hyper-connected and competitive market.

Thomas SOMMER

Thomas, 36 years old, is the CFO and Co-Founder of SG Entertainment. He has been living in Seoul since 2018. Previously he lived in Paris, Cambridge (UK), and Berlin. After working in technology start-ups for 8 years, he changed his life course radically to move to South Korea and create an innovative entertainment company focused on bridging the world of K-pop with Western values focused on creativity. After witnessing the incredible rise of Korean soft power in Europe (Hallyu) with acts such as BTS, he’s building on this success to train artists and create content that resonates with the needs of the younger generations. In his free time, he enjoys hiking around Seoul's many mountains and taking photographs of the landscapes.

Olivia IH

Olivia IH, French-Korean personality born in 1985 from a French mother and a Korean father, currently works as a French instructor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), which is under the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). She is fluent in Korean as she attended Ewha Language Centre up to level 6 in 2011, with a scholarship from the Korean government to obtain her Ph.D in International Relations at Ewha Women's University. She participated in various Korean TV programs and runs a popular Instagram channel @olivia_in_korea (33k followers).