South Korea celebrates its national day with a special arts and crafts exhibition at the national museum in Riyadh.

Speaking on the occasion, the country’s Ambassador Kim Jin-soo said the exhibition, which began on Sunday and would continue until Dec. 22, is the first joint project between the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities.

The event introduces the country’s ancient and modern crafts to Saudi Arabia.

Korean artists were holding workshops during the exhibition.

“This first joint exhibition will boost cultural empathy and interaction paving the way for brisk and profound cultural exchanges between our two countries,” Kim said.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1962, he said, “the friendship and cooperation between Korea and the Kingdom have strengthened year after year. In the late 70s and 80s, Korean laborers, mostly in the construction field, contributed to the modernization of the Kingdom. In return, the Kingdom supported the economic development of Korea with its stable energy supply, which constituted a third of Korea’s total oil consumption.”

He said the Kingdom was South Korea’s fourth largest trading partner. “Bilateral trade has leapt from $4.2 billion in 1991 to $48 billion in 2012, with $30.6 billion of the trade balance in favor of the Kingdom,” he said.

Kim said that after the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties last year, the two countries extended the scope of cooperation to defense, health, culture and education, from the traditional construction and trade sectors.

There were 18 minister-level visits between the two countries since the Korea-Saudi summit in February 2012, which resulted in health and defense cooperation agreements.

In September 2013, the two countries signed more executive agreements for Saudi doctors to be trained at Korean hospitals, and Korean doctors to provide training and medical technology for Saudi medical personnel, according to the envoy.

He said the two nations were determined to build stronger ties particularly for youth development. “These exchanges can be strong bridges between the two countries,” Kim said.

South Korea has 500 Saudi students studying in the country under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program, he said.

Kim said the Koreans have links with the Arabs going back centuries on the Silk Road and sea trading routes. “The history of the exchanges between the two sides dates back to the medieval era about 1200 years ago.”

He said the Arabs built a mosque called “Yegung” 700 years ago in the capital city of then Korea.

“It was during that era that Korea was introduced to the Arab and Western world with the current name of Korea by the Arab traders,” he said.

“According to the official chronicles of the Joseon dynasty, Korea’s last dynasty, the great King Sejong regularly invited imams to his court and listened to their prayers. During King Sejong’s rule from 1418 to 1450, Joseon enjoyed a period of renaissance creating the Korean alphabet, water clocks and celestial maps, and publishing historically important books. It is known that inter-cultural exchanges with the Arabs were partly the background of the Korean Renaissance,” Kim said.