South Korean Ambassador to Cairo Hong Jin-wook has delivered the 1st Class Order of Sports Merit, Fiurst Class, awarded by Korean President Moon Jae-in to the family of the late General Ahmed Fouly in honour of his sporting career and active role in spreading the popularity of taekwondo.
The Korean ambassador reiterated his condolences to the family of General Ahmed Fouly, noting that he dedicated his life to serving taekwondo in Egypt and elevating its status throughout Africa during his tenure as Vice President of the International Taekwondo Federation, head of World Taekwondo Africa and Vice-President of the Egyptian Olympic Committee.
The ambassador said the efforts of General Ahmed Fouly reinforced the atmosphere of peace on the Korean peninsula, where he participated in the delegation of the World Taekwondo Federation, which visited North Korea in 2018.
The Korean envoy also congratulated officials of the Egyptian Taekwondo Federation for the outstanding performance of taekwondo players at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which resulted in the crowning achievements by Hidaya Malak and Saif Issa with two bronze medals.
The ambassador said taekwondo, along with K-Drama, K-Movie and K-Pop, plays an important role in promoting understanding between South Korea and Egypt, noting that the embassy actively supports taekwondo training programmes for Egyptian youth through free courses organised by the Korean Cultural Centre in youth centres and clubs nationwide.
Speaking to The Egyptian Gazette on the sidelines of the ceremony, the Korean Ambassador said promoting cooperation between the government and embassies is essential to making bilateral ties sustainable, adding that sports field is an effective tool to boost such ties.
“For example, if we bring together Egyptian and Korean people who learn taekwondo, this will help exchange experience and consequently promote mutual understanding,” he said.
The ambassador told this newspaper that five Korean taekwondo trainers are working in Egypt and one more trainer will arrive to Egypt very soon.
“In the light of the amazing results that Egypt achieved in Tokyo Olympics as it won two bronze medals in Taekwondo, I think that Egypt in the upcoming period should send trainers to Korea,” he added.
Discussion about this post