“This comes to meet what we have felt of the increased interest in Korea, its language and culture, apart form its well-known products,” he said.

“Around 180,000 visitors, mostly Saudis, visited our Janadriyah pavilion to have an idea about the cultural aspects of Korea. I want to extend my thanks to all of them. Also, we are seeing more students attending our language classes, especially girls. So we want to respond to this,” he added.

The ambassador met at his residence with the second group of Korean language graduates, all of whom were girls.

Mariam Majdi, coordinator of the class, said 44 girls of the 50 enrolled, at both elementary and post elementary classes, graduated. The number of students, mostly girls, has tripled since the opening of the last class, she said.

Ashwaq Al-Buraik, 24, an English teacher, said she wanted to learn Korean for strategic reason. “Korea is becoming more and more important country on world level, specially from the economic perspective. So, I am learning Korean, because it might become a major world language.”

Her younger sister, Wad’ha Al-Buraik, 20, said that she enrolled out of curiosity. “To my surprise, I liked it very much, so I continued. It could be the effect of the Korean drama that I am following.”

Wajd Al-Shareef, 17, secondary school student, said she liked to learn Korean because she was impressed with Korean drama. “The drama and the love for the Korean tradition that reflects respect, politeness and seriousness in life made me decide to learn, to know more about Korea and its culture.”