Sunday Times 2
Taekwondo contest and K-pop festival mark Korea Week
View(s):The Korean Embassy held ‘2023 Korea Week (K-Culture Festival),’ on July 8 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo, with great support from Hallyu fans in Sri Lanka. The Korea Week, composed of the Korean Ambassador’s Cup Taekwondo Championship and K-Pop World Festival, showcased a stunning blend of athleticism and cultural extravaganza.
The Taekwondo Championship was jointly hosted by the Korean Embassy and the Sri Lanka Taekwondo Federation. The finals were held with the participation of Korean Ambassador Miyon Lee and Youth and Sports Ministry Secretary K. Mahesan as chief guests.
Sri Lanka Army and Navy taekwondo teams competed for the final rounds of the sparring competition that garnered much attention from the audience. Several regional Taekwondo clubs in Sri Lanka and the Korean TPC (Taekwondo Peace Corps) team also conducted celebratory performances.
Delivering the welcoming remarks, Ambassador Lee appreciated the efforts to promote taekwondo in Sri Lanka and deepen the bilateral cooperation between Korea and Sri Lanka. She said, “It is inspiring that Taekwondo has been adopted as a daily sport in Sri Lanka especially in schools, army and police, to name a few. Athletes of all ages present today are symbolic of strong cooperation between our two countries.”
The Korea week celebrations also had K-Pop World Festival with more than 1200 K-pop fans attending the event.
This event was a celebration of Korea’s globally acclaimed music industry, stunning choreography and charismatic performances of K-pop fans in Sri Lanka. Among many groups that contested for the preliminary round, the K-pop festival featured fourteen performers from Sri Lanka, who paid tribute to their favourite K-pop bands through their iconic singing and dance performances.
Korean Ambassador Lee and Cultural Affairs Minister Vidura Wickramanayake attended the festival as chief guests.
Korea Week in Sri Lanka is a testament to the expanding cultural ties between Korea and Sri Lanka, the embassy said.