Sharjah 24 – WAM: Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, awarded Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth, the "Diplomatic Service Medal," in recognition for her efforts to enhance the relations between the UAE and South Korea, by encouraging the launch of cultural and creative exchange programmes between the two countries.

The honouring took place during a ceremony held in the St. Regis Hotel in Abu Dhabi, which was attended by Kang Kyung-wha, Foreign Minister of South Korea, who presented the medal to Al Kaabi on behalf of President Moon. The ceremony was also attended by Kwon Yong Woo, Korean Ambassador to the UAE.

Noura Al Kaabi thanked President Moon for awarding her the medal while highlighting the deep bilateral ties between the two friendly countries, which have witnessed significant overall development due to the support of their leaderships and their strategic partnership.

The two countries share a mutual vision to promote the values of coexistence and stability, and a belief that peace is key to the advancement of communities and peoples, she added, noting that the visits of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, helped to create the strategic partnership that reinforced the bilateral ties between the two countries, following the signing of new strategic agreements in various sectors.

"The UAE-Korea Cultural Dialogue, which was launched at the start of the year under the theme," Converging Cultures," has opened new channels of discourse between creative communities in both countries through joint cultural events," Al Kaabi said.

"The ties between the two friendly countries are based on a deep vision involving harnessing their bilateral ties, to serve their development sectors and advance their future cooperation. This vision has also reinforced their cultural ties in various areas, such as the inauguration of the Korean Cultural Centre in Abu Dhabi, the Korea Festival in Abu Dhabi, and the King Sejong Institute at Zayed University," she added.

The UAE and South Korea designated 2020 as the year of cultural dialogue to step up cultural exchanges, to foster mutual cultural understanding and knowledge exchange between both countries, as well as to pave the way for continued growth in the fields of culture and arts, education, media, and sports.

The Cultural Dialogue aims to converge the efforts of the cultural sectors of both nations through cultural exchange, events, initiatives and ideas across the fields of heritage, literature, visual and performing arts, design, AI, education and more.

Since 2013, Abu Dhabi has hosted the Korea Festival, showcasing and celebrating Korean culture. The KCC’s opening in 2016 was a major cultural milestone between the two countries as it is the first of its kind to be established in the Middle East. Earlier this year, the Republic of Korea was named the Country of Honour in the annual Abu Dhabi Festival 2019.

The Republic of Korea will also host an innovatively designed pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai next year. The pavilion will be held under the theme of ‘Smart Korea, Moving the World to You’, and will host events to capitalise on the country's global popularity as a soft power in future mobility technologies.

The UAE is South Korea's top trading partner in the Middle East and North Africa region. The strategic relations between the two countries span various field, including AI, innovation, economy, defence, culture, education and renewable energy. A key milestone for the UAE-South Korea strategic relations was the commissioning of Barakah peaceful nuclear power plant.