Koreans throng Saudipavilionin Seoul book fair

Seoul: The Saudi pavilion, which has the pride of place with Saudis as the guest of honor in the International Book Fair in Seoul, drew a large number of Koreans for its uniqueness and richness of fare. The book fair was inaugurated yesterday.
Deputy Education Minister Dr. Ahmed Al-Saif opened the Saudi pavilion at the book fair and highlighted the cultural exchange and contact between the two countries.
“Recently Saudi Arabia hosted South Korea as a guest of honor at Janadriyah Heritage and Culture show in Riyadh. Today Saudi Arabia is in Seoul as a guest of honor at this international book fair,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s participation in the show as a guest of honor marks 50 years of Saudi-Korean relations.
A Saudi youth delegation, participating in the Saudi-Korean Youth Forum that is being held simultaneously with the fair, continued their interaction with Korean youths with a visit to the fair.
The Saudi youth delegates visited various pavilions of the exhibition.
The Saudi pavilion displays a large number of cultural, literary, political and history books as well as models of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.
“There is a special tent where Arabic coffee (gahwa) and dates are served to visitors,” one organizer said.
Deputy Education Minister Dr. Ahmed Al-Saif opened the Saudi pavilion and highlighted the cultural exchange and contact between the two countries.
“Recently Saudi Arabia hosted South Korea as a guest of honor at Janadriyah Heritage and Culture show in Riyadh. Today Saudi Arabia is in Seoul as a guest of honor at this international book fair,” he said.
There are seven sections at the Saudi pavilion and the most important among them are the children’s, Arabic calligraphy and traditional tents. More than 2,000 titles in Arabic, English and Korean are on display at the show.
The Saudi youths have been given a warm welcome by the Koreans who showed appreciation for Saudi culture and traditions as well as the capabilities and skills of young Saudi men and women.
The youth delegation included 26 students from different parts of the Kingdom and is headed by Dr. Yousuf Al-Saadoun, undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry for economic and cultural affairs.
They are accompanied by officials from the Foreign Ministry, Communications and Information Technology Commission, Culture and Information Ministry, and King Abdulziz City of Science and Technology.
The Saudi delegates will hold talks with their Korean counterparts on educational, social, technological, youth welfare and sports issues.
The delegation visited the Korean Educational Development Institute in Seoul on Tuesday.
Dr. Hyeseung Maria Chang, a research fellow at the institute, briefed the delegation on the institute’s objectives and academic and research programs.
She commended the cooperation between Saudi Arabia and South Korea in education, adding it began about three years ago.
Hyeseung said the education system in Korea was instrumental in developing the country into a knowledge and industry-based economy.
She said: “Higher education and professional training receive every support from the government.
“We also provide intensive training to teachers to improve the quality of education. We have introduced advanced technology to the education system.”
There was seminar titled “Renewing links with books in Saudi Arabia and South Korea” as part of the youth forum. It was addressed by Dr. Musaed Al-Tayar, supervisor of Saudi Digital Library, and Turki Al-Dakhil, a prominent media person, and Dr. Hamid Choi, a professor of Arabic studies at Miyonji University. Dr. Turki Al-Ayyar, Saudi cultural attaché in Seoul, presided over the event.
Al-Tayyar gave a description of the reading habit of Saudis and said the government has been promoting intellectual work since the formation of the Kingdom by King Abdul Aziz. He referred to the Higher Education Ministry’s efforts to promote reading habit among the Saudis including publication of 1,000 scientific messages and its translation project. “The digital library is one of the pioneering projects in the Arab world.”
In his presentation, Al-Dakhil explained his efforts in the publication field by setting up Misbar Center for Studies and Research and Dar Madarik for Publication, Distribution and Translation to Arabic. He gave statistics about the situation of reading in the Arab world.
“At present the reading habit of people in the Arab world is poor,” he pointed out. However, he said some youth organizations have introduced innovative programs to encourage young men and women to read books.
Dr. Hamid Choi of Miyonji University, who is a member of the Muslim World League’s Constituent Assembly, talked about his people’s relations with books.
He also explained his efforts in translating books from Arabic to Korean. Choi has won King Abdullah International Translation Prize. He translated a book on Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) titled “Al Rahiq Al Makhtoum” to Korean.
The Saudi delegation expressed its condolences on the death of Prince Naif during a meeting with Saudi Ambassador to South Korea Ahmed Al-Barrak.