Gwangju International Center

Have you ever been Vietnam? Maybe some people have visited for tourism. Even if you haven’t had a chance to go there, you could hear about Vietnam from the media. As you know, there are many Vietnamese who immigrate to Korea, so we have a bigger chance of exposure to their culture too. On the other hand, many Koreans have moved to Vietnam, and are trying to settle and spread our culture by adjusting to life there. As time goes by, Vietnam and Korea’s relationship is getting deeper with various exchanges. The topic of last week's GIC talk was   “Vietnam-Korea: from natural, historical and cultural similarities to the strategic cooperation partnership,” and was given by Tran Trong Toan, the Ambassador of Vietnam.

 First he explained about similarities between Vietnam and Korea. He mentioned that there is a story for why Vietnam and Korea are so much alike. We can find a lot of common factors in the fairy tales of both countries. Geographically, our land is such an important place that other countries always attack, yet we are still able to protect our own cultures. Moreover, we don’t have religious wars even though there are multiple religions in one country. Second, he touched on two components of the current relationship between Vietnam and Korea. One is the factors that to help tighten our relationship such as Globalization, common interests, and suffering from long time war. Also, he said that our relationship can be special, because we pursue peace and happiness. Thus, both countries don’t want to use this partnership as tool of threat to international society. Finally, he briefly mentioned the future of our relationship. He wants to improve economic trade by making a Free Trade Agreement and encourage Korean business in Vietnam. Furthermore, he hopes to help every immigrant family be happy.

 In short, it was an honor to listen his speech. He had a sense of humor and I was surprised that he knew about Korean history. According to him, we had serious adversities in the past years, but we protected our own culture and language. That makes us proud of our countries and reminds us that peace is an important value in our country.  

 

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9HDBwNgGpU&feature=relmfu

Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/117593299426331932940/121103_TranTrongToan