Korea to deepen cultural exchange with Zim

SOUTH Korea is set to deepen its cultural exchange with Zimbabwe and the two countries yesterday celebrated 30 years of friendship since 1994 with the embassy of the Republic of Korea hosting a Media Day in Harare

Ambassador Park Jae Kyung explained the embassy’s annual programmes planned for celebrating the significance of this year between Zimbabwe and Korea with the embassy wanting Zimbabweans to share a tightening the two countries’ cultural ties.

“We believe that cultural exchange is very important to raise an understanding between Korea and Zimbabwe,” Ambassador Park said. “We will be inviting many Korean teams including Taekwondo and dance teams but at the same time, we will be organising the events locally meaning the Taekwondo contest will have active participation of Zimbabwean youths. That cultural exchange through cultural promotional events will dominate our bilateral relations.

“We are also going to have corporate social responsibility activities by KIA Motors and economic exchange, the business to business exchanges particularly in the mining sector. It is not just about promotional events but behind the scenes we are trying to make the people in Korea rethink Zimbabwe because sometimes it is very unfortunate to see some Korean people with little knowledge about Zimbabwe.”

Ambassador Park said some Koreans had a negative image of Zimbabwe and the embassy wanted to adjust the Zimbabwean image and understanding and make Koreans rethink about Zimbabwe.

He said they were looking at developing the bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and Korea to higher levels this year.

“We are trying very hard to rethink Korea in Zimbabwe and to rethink Zimbabwe in Korea. We are also unveiling a logo that will be used by the countries’ two embassies throughout the year which symbolises our cordial relations.

“We are planning to have political, economic and cultural events throughout the year. We shall be hosting the International and Regional Political Issues Conference and we will be attending the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair 2024 to showcase our Korean stuff. We will also be hosting the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit, Korean corporate social responsibility projects in Zimbabwe and the Korean National Foundation Day in October 2024,” he said.