Logo, Auckland Korean Students Association Covid-19 4pm translated briefings

This logo was designed by Lynne Park for the Korean Coalition. It was attached to Korean-language translations of the government's daily 4pm Covid-19 briefings created by the Auckland Korean Students Association as part of the Korean Covid-19 Coalition. The logo was originally shared by Lynne on KakaoTalk, a mobile messaging app for smartphones popular in South Korea and Korean diaspora communities. Once the logos were attached to the translations, they were shared more widely on KakaoTalk and on Facebook. The Korea Post subsequently agreed to publish AKSA's translations online to help keep its readership abreast of the news on Covid-19. This logo was retained by the paper. According to Eunsol Park, President of AKSA at the time of these activities, the graphics became a familiar symbol that 'marked our work out as a trusted source as there were lots of other sources of information out there, but not all was accurate'.

The Korean Coalition was established during the nationwide lockdown during March 2020 when several local Korean community groups came together to help bridge significant gaps in the initial government Covid-19 response for the benefit of people in their communities. Co-ordinated remotely via the popular social media platform Kakaotalk, the Coalition setup enabled the groups to communicate with each other more easily, identify important gaps and recruit each other’s help. By the end of the first nationwide lockdown in April 2020, the group consisted of around 40 people from the following groups: Korean Medical Students Association (now New Zealand Korean Medical Association), Korean Wellness Society, Auckland Korean Students Association, Auckland Korean Society Inc., The Korea Post.

Around 15 members of the Auckland Korean Students Association, based at the University of Auckland and led by Eunsol Choi, joined these conversations and agreed to create rapid translations of the New Zealand government's daily 1pm and 4pm Covid-19 press briefings. They also created posters featuring Korean translations of important Covid-19-related information to help keep the community safe and up-to-date.