Dubai: South Koreans in Dubai shared their food and culture with the UAE community on Sunday as they marked their National Foundation Day.
The South Korean consulate held its second Korean Food Festival on Sunday in celebration of their National Foundation Day, held every October 3, which marks more than 4,000 years of the history of Korea after being founded by Tan-gun in 2333 BC. A National Day reception was also held in the evening.
“Nowadays the business and cultural relations between the two nations [UAE and South Korea] are very active. That is why we would like to connect the UAE people with the Korean people through the medium of food and culture,” Yoo Sung Jae, acting consul-general of South Korea, told Gulf News.
Yoo said the South Korean community in the UAE is expected to increase further in the coming years as Korean investors are eyeing Dubai for the World Expo 2020. “Many Korean companies are interested in investing and getting into this market for the future in line with the Dubai Expo 2020,” Yoo said.
Presently, there are more than 5,000 South Koreans in Dubai and 10,000 in the whole of the UAE working in more than 170 South Korean companies, mainly big corporations headquartered here.
The upward trend in Koreans coming to the UAE is also because South Korea is working together with the UAE government on its nuclear power plant.
Yoo said the same positive outlook is seen when it comes to tourism, particularly medical tourism to South Korea.
“Now it’s increasing. We have a very dynamic relationship on medical cooperation. Emiratis are going to Seoul to receive medical treatment. One of our signature industries is the medical industry. In recent years, a lot of people, including Emiratis from the northern emirates, are getting medical treatment in South Korea,” Yoo said without giving exact figures.
