C. Vernon Gray may not be going to Annapolis as a state senator after wrapping up his 20-year career on the Howard County Council, but he will represent the county in South Korea for a week.

The peripatetic Gray, 63, has traveled widely and visited China, Japan and Taiwan, but his departure Saturday on a Korean government-sponsored cultural visit has its roots at home.

"We nominated him because he is very sensitive about our needs," said Sue Song, director of operations for the Korean American Community of Howard County, which recommended Gray for the trip.

Song said Howard's Korean community is about 12,000 strong, with 120 businesses, "and they still keep coming." The community is growing so fast, she said, that her group has trouble keeping up and some recent immigrants have had problems adapting.

That is why the local Korean community and its former government in Seoul want to promote more understanding with community leaders in the United States.

Song said Gray is one such leader who has shown "sensitivity" to Korean and other minority groups in Howard County. Her group nominated him regardless of whether he remained an elected official. Gray, a Democrat, lost a bid for state Senate on Nov. 5 to Republican Sandra B. Schrader.

Gray will be among a group of Americans going on the trip, along with social workers, legislators and community activists from Chicago, San Francisco, New Jersey and Virginia.

His purpose in serving on the County Council was always "to enhance the community," he said - something he can and will do in or out of office.

"I look forward to this and working with the Korean-American community," Gray said.