Korean National Day Reception 2018 and new Residence opening ceremony today

The Korean Embassy in Sri Lanka hosts the opening ceremony of the new Residence of the Korean Ambassador and the 2018 National Day reception on 28 September. It is a monumental year to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean Government, against the backdrop of the recent third Inter-Korean Summit in Pyeongyang. 

It is the first National Day reception since Ambassador Lee Heon began his new post in the island in January 2018. Ambassador Lee, whose very first post abroad was also in Sri Lanka in the 1990s, came back to the Pearl of the Indian Ocean as the Chief of Mission. At the same time, he will celebrate the opening of the new Residence at Horton Place, which has been renovated. The new Residence, along with the Korean Embassy at Dharmapala Mawatha, is expected to set the stage to further strengthen the diplomatic ties of both countries. 

In celebration of the Korean National Day, the Embassy invites ‘Meraki’, the winner of the fourth K-pop Festival held by the Embassy in July. Team Meraki will perform the songs of ‘BLACKPINK’ and ‘Twice’, the Korean idol groups. Since ’Sujatha Diyani’ aired in Rupavahini in 2012, Korean popular culture has appealed to more and more Sri Lankan people. To encourage more cultural exchanges and mutual understanding, the Korean Embassy has also organised such various cultural events as a K-pop Festival, Quiz on Korea, a Korean Film Festival, and a Taekwondo competition.

In cooperation with Sri Lanka-Korea Business Council, prestigious companies of Korea and Sri Lanka will take part in the Reception, in order to showcase their products in the promotion booths. The event is expected to contribute to the vitalisation of bilateral economic cooperation as well.

In the mid and late 1990s, when Sri Lanka was still under the agony of conflict, Korea was the largest distributor of FDI in Sri Lanka. In November 2017, on the occasion of President Sirisena’s state visit to Korea, the two sides signed an agreement on economic cooperation. As a follow-up measure, Korea-Sri Lanka Joint Economic Commission was launched in Colombo in June 2018. With these as a momentum, the bilateral ties are expected to widen and deepen further in coming years.

Korea and Sri Lanka are situated at the geopolitically important locations in East Asia and South Asia respectively. With familiar Asian culture, Buddhist heritage and complementary economic structure, there is huge potential to be explored, which is mutually beneficial. The 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2017 has served as an opportunity for the two Asian old friends to develop their cooperative partnership for regional peace and prosperity.

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