• As President Buhari Advised to Visit Korea

By Abdul Alli, Abuja

The Nigeria and the Republic of Korea have committed to maintain a very strong cultural and economic relationship. The relationship was further enhanced with the establishment of Korean Cultural Centre in Abuja.

This takes a centre-stage during the visit of a three-man Korean National Assembly delegation to Nigeria raised hopes for new frontiers in the cultural relationships between both countries.

Leader of the delegation and Deputy Speaker, Republic of Korea, Ju-young Lee, who spoke on behalf of the group, stated that the new relationship would witness an increase in cultural activities for each year.

According to Lee, “the centre has remained committed towards promoting cultural ties between the two countries, by partnering government agencies and private individuals to package cultural activities particularly in areas of literature, music, dance and indigenous sports.

H stated further that, Korea has also played host to several Nigerians through cultural exchange programmes. Passionate about Nigerian cultural performances, the lawmakers revealed a new level of cultural exchange.

Lee assured that Nigerian traditional dances would soon be aired in Korean media for its public while Korean drama would in turn, be introduced here.

Meanwhile, the delegation equally assured that existing cultural programmes including, the yearly K-Pop dance would be sustained.

The Nigerian K-Pop dance competition is one of the programmes organised by the Korean Cultural Centre towards promoting Korean pop music in Nigeria.

The national competition holds in July of every year.

Other members of the delegation are Jaehyun Baek and Joo Gwangdeok. The visit coincided with the second inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s president.

Lee hoped that President Buhari would consider visiting the Republic of Korea as a way of strengthening bilateral ties between both countries. He noted that the exchange visit between President Buhari and President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea would enhance mutual cooperation.

According to him, such visit was one of the issues raised by the delegation with the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during their visit to the Presidential Villa.

“When I get back to Korea, I will suggest to President Moon to visit Nigeria. I also want Nigerian government to advise President Buhari to consider visiting Korea.

“Partnership between Nigeria and Korea will be the foundation for economic development between the Republic of Korea and the African continent,” Lee stated.