21 November 2014 - The Philippine Embassy joined 63 other foreign diplomatic missions to promote relations with South Korea through arts and culture at the three-day “Embassies Day in Seoul: For World Culture & Peace” at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul starting on November 14.
Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Raul S. Hernandez attended the opening ceremony with organizer World Masters Committee, 35 Seoul-based Ambassadors and their spouses, Seoul Mayor Park Won Soon, officials from the sponsors Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
“I salute the World Masters Committee for its passion and tireless efforts to promote cultural understanding amongst nations and the introduction of various cultures to the Korean public,” said Ambassador Hernandez, referring to the theme of the event “Korea with the World, the World with Korea.”
The Philippines’ top envoy joined his counterparts from other embassies in a musical rendition of the ABBA hit “I Have A Dream” by the Diplomats’ Choir, composed of ambassadors and their spouses.
The 64 participating embassies, including the Philippine Embassy, set up booths to promote their culture and tourism destinations. The Embassy’s Cultural Division, with the Department of Tourism, displayed tourism brochures as well as handicraft, costumes and a miniature jeepney.
The South Korean public sampled Filipino cuisine at a stall set up by Kusina (“Kitchen”), a bistro in the hip Haebangchon district of Seoul. The stall served adobo (pork-chicken garlic stew), menudo (tomato pork stew), lumpiang shanghai (spring rolls) as well as deserts like turon (banana fritters), puto (steamed rice buns) and kuchinta (sticky rice cake).
The World Masters Committee is an international nono-governmental organization founded in 2006 to foster better understanding and broader cooperation through the promotion of universal culture, the diffusion of Korean traditional culture as well as the development of cultural networks among recognized experts and specialists in various artistic fields around the world.
Attracting thousands of visitors, the three-day event was held at the same time as the inaugural 2014 Seoul Kimchi Making & Sharing Festival near the same area to promote the spirit of sharing among people and to reinvent the winter ritual of “kimjang” from a cultural point of view with the participation of people from all over the world. END