Park Yang-woo, Korea's Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has said that the cultural dialogue between the UAE and South Korea is an opportunity to know each other by promoting culture.
SEOUL, (Pakistan Point News - 17th Feb, 2020) Park Yang-woo, Korea's Minister of Culture, sports and Tourism, has said that the cultural dialogue between the UAE and South Korea is an opportunity to know each other by promoting culture.
South Korea’s cultural dialogue with the UAE is its first with a middle Eastern country, he added.
In an article published recently in the Korean daily, Dong-A Ilbo, Park said that the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to Korea in 2019, and the visit of Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, to the UAE in 2018 have advanced the relations between the two countries to a distinguished strategic partnership and deepened their bilateral cooperation.
"I visited the UAE to discuss ways to enhancing our bilateral cooperation, in conjunction with the launch of the UAE-Korea Cultural Dialogue 2020. I really enjoyed the UAE’s traditional dance "Al Ayala", which is similar to the Korean traditional dance, Ganggangsullae," Park said in the article.
"In the UAE, there is something similar to the sarangbang tea room, which is the traditional Korean men's diwan. A sarangbang is a place for community members to exchange ideas, communicate and link generations in an open atmosphere, based on love and affection for each other," he added.
Park praised the UAE's interest in Korean culture, which will lead to further closeness at political and economic levels while expressing his confidence that the UAE, which has diverse cultural resources and a major economy will help spread Korean culture to other Middle Eastern countries.
Park also praised the hospitality he received in the UAE and his meeting with Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, and officials interested in Korean culture. He then lauded the "Korean Club" at Zayed University and the students studying the Korean language at the King Sejong Institute.
Park affirmed that true friendship begins with knowing each other, therefore, citing the Korean expression stating that true friends communicate with and understand each other.
