By Priscilla Osaje
Mr Kim Pankyu, Korea Ambassador to Nigeria, has called for stronger synergy between Korea and Nigeria to strengthen the cultural affinity that both countries shared, especially in music and dance.
Pankyu made the call at the opening ceremony of the 12th Korean Film Festival on Thursday in Abuja.
According to him, the Koreans are happy to hold such a remarkable festival in Abuja, after it was suspended temporarily due to COVID-19.
“I have come to deeply feel that South Korea and Nigeria share a strong cultural affinity, especially in their love for music and dance.
“Due to this cultural affinity, various elements such as fashion, cuisine and music are booming in Nigeria.
“Particularly, there has been a significant surge for the spread of Korean drama, along with global hit ” Squid Game” in 2021 ” he said.
The ambassador said that the most watched drama series on Netflix Nigeria in 2022 was “Alchemy of Souls”, a Korean series.
He said that it was important to introduce Korean films to Nigeria, stressing that Nigeria happens to be one of the world’s top three film producing countries.
Pankyu added that the embassy had also realised the importance of bringing Korean films to Nigeria.
“Last year,there was an existing MoU between the Korean Cultural Centre in Nigeria (KCCN) and AIT, which led to the showing of Korean dramas and animation in Nigeria.
“This year, these three-day film festival will showcase various interesting movies that Nigerians will definitely enjoy.
“We wish that Nigerians and all foreign communities will enjoy this cultural experience and have a chance to feel deeply Korean storytelling in cinema,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Kim Changki, Director, KCCN, said that Nigerians were lovers of Korean culture such as food , music and dance, adding that the film festival is aimed at showcasing Korean drama.
Changki said that the film festival was about Korean drama which many Nigerians have been longing to watch.
According to him, the festival has achieved its expected desire due to the financial assistance from the Korea government.
“We are showing five types of movies for Nigerians.
“KCCN’s aim is to promote K-pop, drama, music among others. We are aware that Nigerians love watching Korean movies and we are impressed about that,” he said.
Mr Falope Abiodun, a projectionist,commended KCCN for putting the event together for the benefit of Nigerians.
I applaud them for this and I also encourage them to do more.
” Despite the economic challenges and hardship faced by Nigerians presently, the country remains peaceful and accommodating,” he said.
The New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the viewers were thrilled with the movie ‘The Classified File’ directed by Kwak Kyung-taek.
It is a 2015 South Korea crime drama based on a real life kidnapping case in Busan in 1978 (NAN)