Ancient Egyptian papyrus and Korean mulberry paper have one thing in common: they are both made from plants that are soaked, then pounded into sheets. The Korean variety is known as hanji which, translated literally, means ‘Korean paper’.
This is part of Korea’s minhwa (folk culture) that was showcased during the country’s culture week, last week here in Cairo.
South Korean Ambassador Hong Jin-wook told the Egyptian Mail of the response of Egyptian visitors to the event.
“The feedback of Egyptians during [Korean culture] week was enormous,” the envoy said. “I am so happy that a Korean delegation came to this great country. Culture is the most effective tool of communication among people.
Ten years, South Korea gave Gangnam Style to the world, marking the first step of a cultural journey of a thousand Ri (0.4 kilometre) The annual K-POP World Festival went down well with Egyptians. This event gave youth bands to express their passion for Korean popular music.
At least one evening a week, Egyptians are greeting each other with Joh-eun jeonyeog-ieyo as opposed to missa’ il-kheer. Korean language learning is growing more popular.
“There is a centre that is teaching Korean in Cairo,” the ambassador said. “We have two semester in the year. The number of applications is growing very fast. We always select 500 of the applicants per semester. Consequently, the embassy is also increasing the number of opportunities for Egyptian people to learn Korean language.” Now, Egyptians will have the edge on understanding K-dramas without the subtitles.
Since 2000, popular culture has become one of South Korea’s greatest exports. The government is partly responsible for this Hallyu, or Korean Wave in support for creative industries. According to a report in the Canadian Financial Post, in 2014, one per cent of the country’s annual budget raised $1 billion in funds to nurture popular culture.
In future, many Egyptians might find themselves singing along to Gangnam Style in their electric cars.
The ambassador pointed out that one promising area for Egyptian-South Korean co-operation is in electric vehicle development and manufacture, not to mention renewable energy and the gradual transition to a green economy.
“Many projects are really going and waiting for actual tangible response from our business community in Korea and vice-versa,” the envoy said.
On a broader level regarding environment conservation, South Korea is in close contact with the Egyptian government during preparation for COP27, which will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh this November. A high-level delegation from Korea will be attending the event.
“Several Korean companies are interested in operating with the Egyptian side in environment and renewable energy,” he said.
The ambassador attended the recent Egypt-Korea policy dialogue, which focused on the building and maintenance of rolling stock for lines 2 and 3 of the Cairo underground metro, the establishment of the Korea Advanced Institue of Science and Technology in Egypt, and the founding of the Suez Canal Green Energy Infrastructure.
Egyptian Minister for International Co-operation Rania al-Mashat spoke of “constructive commitments on how financing on how implementation of projects will take place”.
The minister reminded her audience of the “strategic and long-term partnership with Korea”, whose contribution to the project portfolio is more than $1.2 billion.
On policy dialogue, the ambassador said: “We have common targets and we need to elaborate these targets and find the best way to implement such goals. We should not be afraid of any obstacle.”
Indeed, relations with South Korea have come a long way, culminating in an historic visit by South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in to Cairo earlier this year. In 2016, the two countries signed a partnership agreement.
In this context, the envoy firmly believes in the power of diplomacy to bring peoples together.
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