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Dipti Nair
Doha
KOREAN Ambassador to Qatar HE Park Heung-kyeong has said that the current siege of Qatar has been hard on everyone concerned.
"Thankfully, Korea and the trade between Korea and Qatar have remained unaffected by the current political situation. However, the situation is extremely distressing to all people involved and I sincerely hope that it will be resolved quickly."
Heung-kyeong said this at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Qatar while making an announcement about a series of events being organised by the embassy in anticipation of the Korean National Day. The events will be held with the aim to familiarise residents of Qatar with the culture and life of the Korean people.
"Korea has a time-honoured and diverse cultural heritage. Korean people have continually developed their culture for more than 2,000 years while they have lived on the Korean peninsula without interruption. Naturally, Korea has 12 Unesco world heritage sites and 19 Unesco intangible cultural heritages in the form of music, dance and other communal activities. These cultural heritages have provided a rich ground for contemporary K-pop, K-drama and K-movies," Heung-kyeong said.
"Korean youth are also active in absorbing and developing foreign cultures such as breakdance. The b-boy group, Jinjo Crew, won five major world b-boy contests and achieved the first b-boy grand slam in 40 years in the history of b-boy. In Qatar, they will showcase dynamic dances set to the fast rhythms of Korea and others. Meanwhile,Kukkiwon Taekwondo Demonstration Team will focus on the speed of physical actions in three areas forms, sparring and breaking. However, while you watch their performance, I hope you will feel the five underlying tenets of taekwondo: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit," he added.
These events showcasing Korea's wide and diversified culture is a prelude to the grand celebration to be held at the Embassy on November 14, the Korean National Day.
The Korean Embassy, in collaboration with Korean restaurants and groceries in Doha, will also hold a Korean Food Festival to mark the National Day.Korean food is generally low-fat and healthy because it is made mainly from vegetables, rice and beans.
Meanwhile, the events began with a taekwondo competition held at the basketball stadium in Education City on Saturday. The event was held in cooperation with Qatar Taekwondo and Karate Federation and the Korean community in Qatar.
Taekwondo will also be demonstrated at the Katara Drama Theatre on November 13, where the b-boy dance group Jinjo Crew will perform to 'Rhythm of Korea'.
The ambassador said that Second Korea-Qatar Medical Forum will be held in Doha in early in December in an attempt by South Korea, which is well known for its advanced and innovative medical know-how, to share its expertise with Qatar.
"The first living donor liver transplant was conducted here in Doha on the occasion of the Korea-Qatar Medical Forum last November. I expect advanced surgical operations on liver and heart artery to be conducted as part of the second Korea-Qatar Medical Forum this December. Also coming up in December is the fifth Korea-Qatar High Level Strategic Cooperation Committee. The meeting will discuss co-operation in trade and investment, energy, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and so on", the envoy said.
"I would also like to draw your attention to the connection between Korea and Qatar related to hosting world sport events. Pyeonchang Winter Olympics will be held in Korea from February 9 to 25, 2018, 30 years after the Seoul Summer Olympics. Pyeongchang Winter Olympics marks the beginning of world sport events that will take place in the Asian region - 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and 2022 Qatar World Cup, will strengthen the lofty ideals of harmony and peace in the conflict-ridden globe consecutively. Let us start our global campaign for harmony and peace in Pyeongchang, Korea next February and then lead it up to 2022 Qatar World Cup," said the ambassador.
