Marie Boes

ECCK CONNECT

PEOPLE IN-DEPTH

Meet the Honorary Citizen of Seoul, Marie Boes

March 4, 2022

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, there are about 2.15 million foreigners residing in Korea as of 2021, making about 4.1% of the total population. South Korea is becoming a cultural melting pot where various culture coexists.

The ECCK met with Marie Boes, who was granted the Honorary Citizen of Seoul in December 2021. Since her arrival to Korea in 2016, Ms. Boes has been running her own business and actively engaging in projects where she provides useful ‘Living in Korea’ tips for the foreigner communities residing in Korea.

“I enjoy doing a lot of things. I desire the kind of life where work excites me and motivates me.”, expressed Ms. Boes during her interview with the ECCK.

Since 2020, you founded your own company. Could you provide us some of the highlights of your activities?

(Courtesy: Marie Boes)

My website covers various Korea-related topics. Before 2020, the contents were 100% tourism related. However, COVID-19 situation made me run the webpage in a slightly different direction where I cover many different topics that might interest the readers like K-beauty.

At the end of 2019, I won big blogger awards from organizations such as Korea Tourism Organization, Seoul Tourism Organization, etc. It was a very nice way of ending a year, getting acknowledged of my hard work. I feel very proud of that.

Tell us about yourself

I am Marie from Belgium. As of 2022, I have been living in Korea for 5 years as I first came here in 2016. Right before moving to Korea, I stayed in England where I acquired bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial Design and Medical Industrial Engineering. Afterwards, I came to Korea as an English tutor.

The experience of teaching English was worthwhile, but I felt like I wanted to explore and do something that interested me even further. After trying out various things, I eventually came into the field of marketing and website development which led me to build my own website. One thing I was sure is that I was quite good at what I was doing: operating and managing a website, writing articles, and boosting traffic, etc. and decided to run a business which specializes in that specific area, saying SEO marketing, website optimization and content creation.

What were your motivations?

I like doing a lot of things. I am very interested in a lot of topics. Working full time in one field doesn’t give me satisfaction because I tend to easily get bored. I wanted a certain kind of life where work excites me and motivates me. Flexibility, freedom, etc. are nice topics to talk about.

Where in Korea is your go-to spot? Which city or spot do you enjoy visiting the most?

I do have places that I enjoy going to, but they are not the highlights of the country where you can easily find on internet. I could say, they are hidden gems, underdog.

First is Danyang. I’ve been there 4-5 times with my friends and for me its natural beauty interests me. I’ve seen the sunset, went paragliding, visited caves, etc. It’s not very popular for foreign tourists but every time I visit this place, I get amazed by its beauty. The other one is Gongju. I have also been there 3-4 times, where I visited traditional village, temple, fortress, etc. It is very historic which lets me experience the real traditional culture of Korea. During cherry blossom seasons, Gongju is especially beautiful. Taean shores and Bosung tea plantation were other places I enjoy vising.

What I want to point out is that, everywhere you go in Korea, it is good because everywhere is unique. I’ve always travelled a lot in Korea and tourism in Korea is underrated, in my opinion. People don’t know about everything of the country, specific cities such as Seoul, Busan and Jeju are highlighted but there are so many more to see and learn in Korea. That’s why I enjoyed running my website, where I could share with others of the Korean history and culture that I enjoyed learning and experiencing about.

You became a Seoul Honorary Citizen in 2021. What was it like? Could you explain about that?

First of all, I feel very honored to have received the award. With the Belgium ambassy’s suggestion, I was able to submit the application and get awarded as one of the 9 honorary citizens of 2021. I am a small business owner, not a big corporate and still have lots to learn. Receiving this kind of recognition gave me a message that I am doing something right and going the right direction and motivated me to further exercise what I have been doing.

One of the reasons I was able to get nominated and selected as Seoul Honorary Citizen is that I do not just work solely on my company. I also work on other things on the side. For example, I run a website where I promote ‘Living in Korea’ which tells useful information in various languages for foreigners. This generates quite many views.

(Courtesy: Marie Boes)

How do you like Korea so far?

I enjoy living in Korea for many reasons. First of all, it is very comfortable. The language is hard when it comes to administration but when gotten enough help, it is something I can overcome. Other than that, it is a very comfortable country to live in safety wise, healthcare, etc.

For a sports lover like myself, there are a lot of activities to do. For example, snowboarding, skiing, surfing, all of the activities I enjoy doing, I can easily visit places that do these activities in a very short period of time. They are closely located to Seoul, where I live in, less than 2 hours maybe. I don’t need to travel too much. When I was younger, back in Belgium, if I were to go skiing, I would have to travel to another country and stay there for a week which took too much time. Whatever you like as a hobby could easily be found around here in Korea. Also, the transportation, of course I find very comfortable.

Any difficulties doing business in Korea?

At first, working as a freelancer, what I found the most difficult when opening my own business was that I did not have anyone who could give advice on business registration, etc. Then, I got an accountant who could help me and provid me professional advice. I also got help from one of my good Korean friends who accompanied me to tax office to handle tasks, get e-certificate, etc. which would have been difficult to deal with had I not received any support. One good tip is that, as a foreigner doing business in Korea, having a good staff such as lawyer, accountant, etc. that speak good English would be a good point.

Living in different countries and experiencing their culture is always interesting to me, but sometimes I get confronted with difficulties. But I always have hope that I can meet good people. With good friends and relationships, I believe enriching a decent life, both personally and business wise would be possible.

Do you have any advice for those who just started to live in Korea or who plans to live in Korea in the near future?

Wherever you go, there would be obstacles and difficulties. But what’s important is to push yourself out of your comfort zone to meet people. There are many social clubs that one can join that fit your interests.

About Marie Boes

I’m Marie from Belgium, currently working in Korea as a marketer for 5+ years. I specialize in SEO marketing, website optimization and content creation. During my spare time I like to spend my time outdoors, going hiking, wakeboarding, skiing and exploring South Korea.

Link to Marie’s website: https://namumarketing.com/