24 May 2016 – The Philippine Embassy in Seoul took part in the annual international charity event in Seoul, which drew the participation of more than 60 foreign missions and cultural centres at the latter part of a special four-day holiday in South Korea organized by the Seoul Metropolitan government on 7-8 April 2016 on Seoul City Hall Grounds.

Themed “A Two Day Journey Around the World”, the 2016 Seoul Friendship Fair was declared open by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon in colourful opening ceremonies featuring festive traditional performances by Seoul’s sister and friendship cities, which followed a welcome reception for the diplomatic corps, including Philippine Ambassador to Korea Raul S. Hernandez.

A mini fashion show with an objective to exhibit to the public various countries’ national costumes was included in the program for the first time to highlight the occasion. Third Secretary and Vice Consul, Lyza Maria S. Viejo represented the Philippine Embassy in a beige butterfly dress.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government organized the fair into 2 events: the World Tourism Exhibition and the World Food Fair. Tourism Attaché Maricon B. Ebron led her team from the Philippine Department of Tourism in distributing tourism promotional materials and raffle stubs for free air tickets to the Philippines.

The Embassy’s Cultural Section organized a food stall, which served Filipino cuisine such as, the bibingka, (rice cake), pork adobo, lumpiang gulay (vegetable spring rolls) and pancit bihon, (Philippine noodles) to the Korean public and expatriate residents of Korea.

On the first day, bananas and pineapple donated by the traditional fair partner, Del Monte Korea, were sold out. San Miguel beer also sold well among the Korean public and the expatriate community.

Philippine-style pork barbecue served on the second day of the fair drew long crowds of people, who had to wait for as long as 30 minutes to have a taste of this delicious Filipino delicacy. 

The Seoul Friendship Fair, which was first organized in 1996 to celebrate Seoul Citizen’s Day, is held annually with a theme of sharing and giving. All participating embassies donated 10 percent of their profit to a designated charity fund. The proceeds for this year’s event would be given to the victims of the recent earthquake in Ecuador.  END