On August 15, 2025 — the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation — the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) will officially launch “Weform,” an international policy proposal and communication platform.
Building on the experience of its domestic participatory governance platforms “Woollim” and “Yeollim,” VANK has designed Weform as a new citizen diplomacy online platform that expands this model to the global stage. Weform allows anyone to present their opinions on international issues, develop them into policy proposals through public discussion, and potentially have them reflected in the decisions of international organizations or governments.
Ahead of its official launch, VANK is holding a pre-campaign for participants to experience Weform until August 15, 2025. For each round, a topic is announced on VANK’s Instagram, and participants can freely submit their ideas via the campaign website.
The Group of Seven (G7), established in 1975 amid the oil crisis and global economic instability to coordinate economic policies, is an informal international economic forum consisting of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, and Canada. Over the decades, it has discussed a wide range of global issues, from the economy and politics to security, development, and health. However, as the global power structure becomes increasingly multipolar and the challenges facing the international community grow more complex, questions have been raised about the G7’s representativeness and effectiveness.
In particular, the G7’s structure has long been criticized for making it difficult to reflect the voices of the Global South and emerging economies. Against this backdrop, discussions have been growing over whether Korea’s participation could bring fresh perspectives and experiences to the G7.
Korea is the world’s 10th-largest economy, a democratic nation, and the only OECD member to have transitioned from an aid recipient to a donor country. It has made tangible contributions in diverse fields, including public health, digital transformation, climate action, supply chain stability, and peacebuilding. If Korea were to join the G7, it could serve as a bridge to partner countries and emerging economies that the current membership struggles to represent, helping the G7 evolve into a more inclusive and balanced forum. Korea’s invitation to the G7 Summit again this year reaffirmed the international community’s recognition of its responsible role and potential contributions.
However, some voices caution that Korea’s participation may not align with the G7’s history and identity. They note that the G7 has been built on close consultations among nations sharing democratic, market-economy, and security-alliance values. Long-standing mutual understanding and policy coordination among current members have fostered strong internal cohesion and shared foreign and security policy values. From this perspective, admitting new members could risk undermining the G7’s established decision-making processes and identity.
There are also concerns that expanding G7 participation to non-member states, including Korea, could blur the G7’s distinct role and overlap with the G20 — a larger forum that already includes both advanced and emerging economies. The G7’s strength lies in its small size and high-trust consultations, which some fear could be weakened.
This campaign invites citizens to think critically about these contrasting perspectives and express what Korea’s participation in G7 reform could mean. More than simply delivering information, it is designed as an interactive debate campaign, encouraging participants to consider the issue, form their own stance, and share it. Through this, VANK hopes to explore how individual perspectives can contribute to global governance discourse.
VANK head Park Ki-tae said:
“For decades, the G7 has been an important platform for global discussions, but voices are calling for new approaches to its composition and methods to address today’s complex challenges. Korea, with its unique journey from aid recipient to donor nation, has the potential to offer new perspectives within the G7’s framework. Weform is designed so that citizens are not mere observers but active participants in international discussions — sharing their opinions, debating with others, and exploring the possibilities for change.”
Youth researcher Park Ji-eun explained:
“The purpose of this campaign is to examine the G7’s structure from the citizens’ perspective and think about the opportunities and questions Korea’s participation could raise. Beyond simply asking whether Korea should join, we aim to consider the forum’s history and sustainability while also reflecting on realistic, constructive directions it could take in a changing world order.”
Youth researcher Jeong In-sung added:
“This campaign is not just a discussion, but a debate — a process where citizens decide their stance and think through the reasons behind it. The diversity of perspectives on G7 reform and Korea’s role could be a starting point for expanding citizen participation in future global governance debates.”
Previously, in its first pre-campaign, VANK gathered citizens’ opinions on independence activist Ahn Jung-geun’s Theory of Oriental Peace. The second campaign addressed “Prejudice Against Africa,” and the third focused on “Responsibility and Sustainability in Developing the Arctic Sea Route.” The final pre-campaign, launching on August 7, 2025, will ask: “What should a new international forum led by Korea look like?”
All campaigns can be found on VANK’s official Instagram, and anyone can participate via the VANK campaign website. Through Weform, VANK aims to usher in a new era of global governance in which Koreans are not merely passive recipients of great power decisions but active agents in shaping and solving international issues.
VANK sees this as the right moment for Korea to embrace the vision of becoming a major power capable of shaping and implementing the global order — particularly with the “K-Pop Demon Hunters” OST reaching No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and Korean music, drama, and film driving a worldwide Korean Wave. With a cultural base of 7.5 million overseas Koreans and 200 million Hallyu fans worldwide, VANK believes Korea can leverage its cultural influence to exert greater impact on international politics and diplomacy, ultimately leading the global community.
Going forward, VANK plans to develop and operate Weform so that 21st-century Korea can rival the United Nations in its influence over international diplomacy, becoming a hub of Asia, a gateway to Northeast Asia, and a nation that shares dreams and friendship with every country in the world.
Meanwhile, VANK has pioneered Korea’s first programs to train “digital diplomats” and national PR ambassadors, enabling all citizens to play a diplomatic role. Through the “Woollim” policy proposal platform and the “Yeollim” policy communication platform, VANK continues to build governance structures where citizens are co-designers and implementers of national policy.