‘Outdoor’ reception marks Korea’s National Foundation Day, 74th Armed Forces Day
Zubair Qureshi
The South Korean embassy on Friday celebrated the National Foundation Day and the 74th Armed Forces Day on Friday in an outdoor ceremony, the way it used to do prior to COVID-19.
Federal Minister for Board of Investment Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Minister for Defence Production Muhammad Israr Tareen, Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, Senator Sehar Kamran, Senator Sitara Ayaz, Dean of Diplomatic Corps Ambassador of Turkmenistan Atadjan Movlamov, high commissioners, ambassadors, diplomats, parliamentarians and members of civil society attended the event and congratulated the ambassador on the auspicious occasion.
While welcoming the guests, the Korean ambassador expressed his government and people’s resolve to help Pakistan in cash and kind so that it could face the impact of recent floods. “Jogye Order, a Korean biggest Buddhist sect and the Korean companies working in Pakistan like K-Water, Mira Power, KOAK, KA-Power, Samsung Electronics, Lotte Chemical, Lotte Chilsung Beverages, Lotte Construction besides the Korean community in Lahore and Karachi provided more than $500,000 in flood relief,” the ambassador said.
The Korean government has also provided assistance of $300,000 for relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected people, the ambassador added.
He fondly shared how he was deeply touched during his recent visit to Karachi where he was scheduled to handover the first batch of flood relief to the Pakistani authorities to see the Korean people busy in relief work in Sindh’s flood-devastated areas.
We have raised number of Pakistan students from 1,000 to 2,500 and this year so far, 1,200 workers have entered Korea which is the highest number in any year since the signing of the Employees Permit System ten years ago, he said.
Moreover under the Global Korea Scholarship, the Korean government’s scholarship programme for foreign students, 15 Pakistani students benefit from this programme each year.
Apart from that, he said, more than 200 graduate Pakistani students receive scholarships directly from the Korean universities.
Another example of people to-people exchange is the tourism sector of Pakistan, said the ambassador adding as the security situation gets better, so does the Koran government’s advisory for Pakistan.
The ambassador said the Korean government had added Gilgit, Hunza and Skardu as an area where group tours were allowed, said the ambassador.
The ambassador also spoke on the cultural aspect of Pakistan-Korea relations. He particularly mentioned K-Pop and Korean movies which are making huge number of fans in Pakistan.
About parliamentary relations between the two countries, the ambassador referred to a recent visit of the delegation of Korean parliamentarians that held meetings with their counterparts in Islamabad. The year 2023 is marking 40 years of diplomatic relations with Pakistan.
Chaudhry Salik Hussain congratulated the ambassador and the Korean nationals on the national day and the armed forces day. Pakistan, he said valued relations with Korea as the bilateral ties are multi-faceted and ever-growing. He also thanked the Korean leadership for generous assistance for the flood-affected people of Pakistan. In the end cake was cut to mark the day and the Korean food was served.
