The 2019Korean
National day and Cultural Festival was held
on Tuesday November
12,
in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
in a colourful celebration that had members of the diplomatic community, heads
of organisations and top Nigerian government functionaries in attendance, including the Senate President,
Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan.
Over 700 guests gathered at
the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton for the carnival-like celebration, as
both Korean and Nigerian singers, took their turns to entertain guests at the
event.
The event was hosted by the
Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nigeria, His Excellency Lee In-tae and
his wife.
In his welcome address,
Lee In-tae said: “Our history has been full of difficulties. In the last century,
we were victims of colonialism, and then we
suffered from the Korean War.
“Afterwards, many died
from hunger and poverty. Yet, we worked hard and grew strong. We became one of
the largest economies in the world, and achieved stable democracy.
And now we are trying
to achieve peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, and for us to
succeed, your strong support for our efforts is necessary.
“Despite the hardships
of our history, Korea has become close friends with many countries, especially
Nigeria.”
Other dignitaries present at
the cultural fiesta included Mrs. Pauline Tallen, the Honourable Minister for
Woman Affairs, Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah, the Minister of State, Mines and Steel
Development.
The star of this year’s
edition of the event was the legendary Yaemer – an acappella ensemble composed
of vocalists and singers from the Seoul Institute of the Arts.
They thrilled the audience
with a combined wide variety of genres with an acappella style and created a
unique mix of scintillating songs.
The Yaemar group performed Lion King medley,
Man in the mirror (by Michael Jackson), Believer (by Imagine dragons), One
Candle (by G.O.D), Boy in Luv (by BTS) sandwiched by Bigvic’s Highlife
performances.
Afterwards, the Yaemer group
and Bigvic jointly performed a popular Nigerian song, One Love (by Onyeka
Onwenu) to the cheer of the audience.
After the performances,
guests were treated to a buffet of Korean cuisine, as Korean technology by LG
and Samsung Electronics were also on display.
