President Park Geun-hye and U.S. citizens appointed as "K-Culture supporters" attend a campaign launch held at the Korean Cultural Service in New York on Sept. 28. The supporters are comprised of 16 Americans, including Edgar Vaudeville (second left), a grandson of a French couple who accommodated Park in France when she was studying there, and Nia Sanchez (second right), Miss USA 2014. / Source from Yonhap News

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Edgar Vaudeville, a grandson of a French couple who accommodated Park Geun-hye when she was studying there, and 15 other U.S. citizens have been appointed as "K-Culture supporters" who will help promote Korean culture.

President Park Geun-hye attended the appointment ceremony held at the Korean Cultural Service New York (KCSNY) on Monday.

While the KCSNY plays a role of an advance air base for creating Korea premium' in New York, the supporters take the role of the base crew who will help spread Korean culture across the United States.

The supporters are comprised of 16 Americans, some of whom have high-profile careers.

Nia Sanchez, 25, was named Miss USA 2014 and holds a fourth-degree black belt in taekwondo. She learned taekwondo on the advice of her father who ran a taekwondo club in California.

Edgar Vaudeville, 36, has a special bond with President Park because his grandparents accommodated Park when she was studying in France. He is currently working as a manager and consultant in New York-based restaurant 'Chefs Club by Food & Wine'.

Seth Andrew, 35, is a senior adviser to the chief technology officer at the White House. He founded Democracy Prep Public School, a college preparatory school in New York, after being inspired by South Korean education. He is a leading figure who aroused the 'Korean-style education' fever by implementing Korean-style education to US public school system, stating, "The US should learn Korea's educational model." 

President Park Geun-hye along with "K-Culture supporters" Edgar Vaudeville (left) and Nia Sanchez attend a campaign launch held at the Korean Cultural Service in New York on Sept. 28. Edgar Vaudeville has a special bond with President Park because his grandparents accommodated Park when she was studying in France. He is currently working as a manager and consultant in New York-based restaurant 'Chefs Club by Food & Wine'./ Source from Yonhap News

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Salvatore Scarlato, 90, is the President of the Korean War Veterans Association New York who served in the Korean War when he was 19 years old. Marjorie Silva, 35, is the winner of the Global Taste of Korea New York preliminaries and 'Korean cuisine ambassador' of the Foreign Ministry. Laura Raicovich, 35, is the president and executive director of the Queens Museum in New York.

President Park visited the Korean Culture Center to meet with "K-Culture supporters" whom she asked for their support in developing mutual cultural understanding between Korea and the United States and expressed her hope that they would serve as a bridge for cultural exchange.

The event also featured the American debut of a short documentary consisting of interviews with important Korean and American experts who discussed what they considered to be “Koreanness.”

Among the experts featured, President Park drew attention to the interview with Emanuel Pastreich, author of the book “A Different Republic of Korea of which only Koreans are ignorant,” stating, “Pastreich feels that Korea is a nation with a tradition of continuity in its culture and that historical feature of the culture is a critical aspect of the tradition.” 

President Park commented in early August that she had read Pastreich’s book over summer vacation and that (according to Pastreich) “our nation has the potential to become a first class nation.” Her remarks drew considerable media attention.