Different nations become friends again as Korea Festival kicks off in Abu Dhabi

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  Actors perform in the play “Hongdo” on the first night of the annual Korea Festival held at the National Theatre in Abu Dhabi. The festival will run until November 11. Delores Johnson / The National

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  Wan Holland (right) , director of the Arab-Korean Women Society, supports some of the women participating in the Korean speech contest on Thursday night. Delores Johnson / The National

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  Yasser Al Gargawi is happy to get his photo taken in a Korean booth on the first night of the Korea Festival in Abu Dhabi. Delores Johnson / The National

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  Actors perform in the play “Hongdo” on the first night of the Korea Festival which will run until November 11. Delores Johnson / The National

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  Actors perform in the play “Hongdo” at the Korea Festival in Abu Dhabi on Thursday night. Delores Johnson / The National

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  Visitors of the Korea Festival check out a photo exhibition. Delores Johnson / The National

ABU DHABI// Authentic food, games, martial arts and theatre plays were on show as the 16-day Korea Festival kicked off in the capital on Thursday.

The much-expanded event aimed to offer the people of the UAE a glimpse of Korean culture, said Park Kang-ho, the country’s ambassador.

“This year it kicks off at the National Theatre, but later it will go to the Corniche, so we will show Korean culture more vibrantly.”

An audience, mostly Emirati, flocked to the National Theatre to participate in the festival.

Sadeeq bin Abdullah, 72, said he had attending the festival since it started in 2013.

“Before we did not know any Koreans, now many of our youth speak Korean,” he said.

“Now the people around the world should come closer together. As the Quran says, we were created as different nations and tribes to get to know each other.”

The opening day included a Korean speech contest for Emiratis, where they are tested on articulation, performance and content coherence.

Nema Mahad, 24, was crowned winner for her speech about a Korean palace.

“I did not expect to win, I only participated for the experience. I think the theme this year revolved around history and that is why they liked it,” she said.

She began learning Korean while studying at Zayed University four years ago. “It was the first foreign language introduced, and I enrolled as a hobby.”

Her prize was a return flight to Seoul. “This will be my first visit there,” she said.

Another highlight of the evening was a performance of the play Hongdo starring Yeh Ji-won, a famous actress in South Korea.

She will also be holding a Q&A session when her film Hanji is screened on Saturday.

The play, which is set in the 1930s during the Japanese occupation of Korea, has been receiving critical acclaim over the past two years, picking up several awards.

“It tells the story of a woman during that time, it is a tragedy,” said Eunjee Kim from the Korean embassy.

Humaid Al Hammadi was one of the first visitors after the festival opened its doors at 4pm. He took photos and videos of the booths, which he said he would then be sharing with his 1,223 followers on Instagram.

As the founder of the Emirati-Korean friendship society and a frequent visitor to South Korea, Mr Al Hammadi’s dedication to bringing the two cultures closer together is not new.

“I studied in Korea for a while, and I noticed the lack of familiarity between the two cultures,” he said.

“I then became a social media celebrity because I focus on Korea. I give detailed media reports where I tell the story of the place or icon and its history, or when I demonstrate a popular dish I explain its story and why they love it.”

He has also been paying visits to hospitals there which are treating Emirati patients, as there were 3,000 such patients there in 2015.

His plans include interviewing the imam of the first mosque in South Korea.

Mona Al Buloushi, who co-founded a Korean club at the UAE University, said this year’s festival was better than before.

“We used to come every year and help the club’s members participate in the speech contest,” said the 25-year old.

“We help them train, and I think it is very important that the embassy every year develops [the contest]. Especially in terms of the audience, this time it was full and even the side chairs were occupied.”