Fulton County first responders met at the Fulton County Sheriff's Office on Monday for a South Korean Cultural Diversity Training presentation.

The training came in preparation of an expected increase of South Korean immigration in Indiana due to a recent $5 billion investment made by Jeep maker Stellantis and Samsung SDI, a South Korean company, for two electric-vehicle battery plants in Kokomo.The plants anticipate it could bring up to 3,000 new jobs, and include many of those employees to be to ones coming from South Korea. 

The uptick in South Korean business prompted the Northern Central Indiana Regional Planning Council to prepare the community with cultural training by partnering with Moyar Consulting LLC, an international firm that consults with U.S. business & government agencies to develop trade, and specializes in cultural commentary and training for law enforcement and first responders about foreign hospitality, customes, health practices, language associations and more. 

Monday's cultural training event was led by Sooyeon Shin, the Moyars Consulting Engagement Director, and BJ Moyars, owner of Moyars Consulting. Shin, who was born and raised in South Korea until immigrating to the US at the age of 13, educated local officials about cultural differences that included everything from eating habits, driving habits, social norms, and more.