Korean Cultural Festival 2022 scintillates Sri Lanka

Korean Cultural Festival 2022

Korean Ambassador with the Winners of the Korean Cultural Festival

Moment during the Quiz on Korea

Judges of the K-Pop World Festival

Performing at the K-pop world festival

The Korean Cultural Festival 2022 concluded recently attracting thousands of Sri Lankans from all walks of life as they energetically cheered the live K-pop performances at the Indoor Sugathadasa Stadium.

The evening was a true celebration of Korea and the Korean heritage by all Sri Lankan fans who witnessed the talents of the youth in harmony with popular Korean culture.

To celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and Sri Lanka this year, the Korean Embassy together with Korean Businessmen’s Association, Korean Residents’ Association, and Peaceful Unification Advisory Council Southwest Asia Chapter co-organised the Korean Cultural Festival 2022 held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium recently. Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Secretary Somaratne Widanapathirana, National Institute of Education (NIE) Director General Dr. Sunil Nawarathne, Ambassadors, diplomatic corps, and Korean community leaders, along with famous music and dance artists Bathiya Jayakody, Santhush Weeraman, Channa Wijewardena, Umaria Sinhawansa, and Aseka Wijewardena participated in this event. 

The Korean Cultural Festival was composed of two main events, ‘the Quiz on Korea’ and the K-Pop World Festival’. Delivering the welcoming remarks, Korean Ambassador Santhush Woonjin JEONG said: “On the celebration of the 45th anniversary between Korea and Sri Lanka this year, the Korean Embassy is delighted to launch the Quiz on Korea. People-to-people exchanges and cultural cooperation are the very foundation of the friendship between our two countries. The growing popularity of the Korean wave, in particular K-pop and K-dramas among many Sri Lankans reflect the deep interest in Korean culture and language.  

“Reflecting the deep interest for Korean culture by Sri Lankans in particular the youth, I commend the Education Ministry for adopting the Korean language as a foreign language to advanced level classes in Sri Lanka. From next year, you can take the Korean language in the university entrance examination. Becoming proficient in the Korean language will be the engine that will drive you to receive many job opportunities in Korea.”

Conveying the congratulatory remarks, all guests appreciated the efforts of the Korean Embassy to promote cultural cooperation between the two countries. Ministry of Cultural Affairs Secretary Somaratne Widanapathirana congratulated all participants and stated: “I am keen to encourage more tourism and labour cooperation between Korea and Sri Lanka. As many Sri Lankans are eager to learn the Korean language, it will help in generating more job opportunities in Korea.” 

NIE Director General Dr. Sunil Nawarathne stated: “You are the future of this country and I hope all of you learn the Korean language which is fantastic and valuable for your future. Over 100 schools offer Korean as an O/L subject and from 2023 you can sit for advanced level examinations as well. I also appreciate the efforts of Korea to help Sri Lanka at this juncture and let’s learn from Korea and make Sri Lanka a developed nation.”

The Quiz-on Korea was a survival quiz competition where the questions were based on generic topics of Korea, including Korean lifestyle, traditional culture, history, and language. Around one hundred competitors from Sri Lanka took part in this quiz and their deep knowledge about Korea and the Korean language was truly remarkable. The finalists of the Quiz on Korea confidently answered tricky questions to the awe of the audience including the guests and honour and Korean nationals. 

Emerging from a tough competition, the following participants bagged awards and certificates. The winner of the quiz competition gets an opportunity to take part in the final quiz competition in Korea and compete with national representatives from different countries around the world to win the top prize.  The winners were: 1st Place - Fathima Ahra Imthiaz Latiff, 2nd Place - Pallage Umanga Sanathani Perera, 3rd Place - Ukwaththa Arachchige Gayani Milanika and 3rd Place - Fathima Sahlah Mohamed Imthiaz.

The K-Pop World Festival is a K-pop performance competition, for which the Embassy selected eight talented dancing groups and five brilliant vocalists for the preliminary round. These performances were selected after a scrutinised evaluation from the legendary judges Bathiya Jayakody, Santhush Weeraman, Channa Wijewardena, Umaria Sinhawansa, Aseka Wijewardena, and Boa Lim. All performers selected for the preliminary round exhibited affluent talents in singing and dancing through their spectacular performances on the stage, charming the judges and the audience.

The judges decided to select two winners to join the K-pop world competition that will be held later this year in Korea, following a screening process. They will also be able to meet and perform together with K-Pop stars.

Winners of the Dancing Category were 1st Place - Black Thunder, 2nd Place - Chonchi and Nicky, 3rd Place – Dango and 4th Place – Lucifer. Winners of the singing category were 1st Place - Sisara Rathnayake, and 2nd Place - Hashini Tharuka Miranda.

The audience was actively engaged throughout the event and a raffle draw was held as the final item on the agenda. Many lucky winners won valuable prizes including a Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 5G BTS edition. The Korean Embassy will continue to deepen and strengthen the Korea-Sri Lanka friendship by promoting cultural cooperation between the two countries.