Envoy Wants Malaysians And South Koreans To Be True Friends

By Samantha Tan KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- Newly appointed South Korean Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Yu Hyun-seok has a mission to accomplish during his term here - he wants Koreans and Malaysian to be true friends, who really understand each other's policy, society, history and culture. "I believe this could be done through providing opportunities where both peoples of different background can easily taste and understand various aspects of each other's country," he told Bernama in an email interview recently in conjunction with South Korea's National Foundation Day celebrated annually on Oct 3. He acknowledged that bilateral ties were in wonderful shape based mostly on solid trade-investment relations and the popularity of Korean culture in Malaysia but he aimed to go one step further namely through the involvement of individuals rather than government officers. As part of this endevour the embassy will organise a Korea Festival next month to attract more Malaysians to have better understanding of the republic, he said. Yu said that the festival would showcase cultural events with performances by world-class b-boy crew and fusion drum bands along with special lectures by Korean scholars. He hoped that the festival could contribute to enticing more Malaysians to fall in love with South Korea as well as have better understanding of the country. He said that it was always amazing to see many Malaysians enjoying Korean music, drama, food and the country's language. Commenting on South Korea's relations with ASEAN, Yu said that both aimed to achieve trade of US$200 billion by 2020. The two sides have also agreed to accelerate efforts to increase the use of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and to further liberalise the ASEAN-South Korea FTA. Yu pointed out that at last month's ASEAN Summits in Laos, leaders welcomed the progress in cultural cooperation between South Korea and and the 10-member bloc, where the republic designated next year as the ASEAN-South Korea Cultural Exchange Year. According to the envoy, plans were also made to estabish an ASEAN Culture House in Busan by next year to boost cultural ties. --BERNAMA