By Lily O. Ramos
MANILA, Sept. 20(PNA)–The long-lasting friendship between Filipinos and the South Koreans continue to flourish in culture and the arts and socio-economic and even political aspect.
For one, Filipinos have long embraced the Korean culture in many ways—from its food, products, and dramas to K-pop music, fashion and cosmetics.
Meanwhile, the Koreans continue to do business here and build industries such as ship building in Subic and export-import tuna, aside from exploring the Philippines,making them top foreign tourist arrival contributors in the country.
The pleasant relationship of both countries can be traced way back in 1950 when Philippines supported South Korea during Korean War.
The Philippines and Korea since then maintained its strong bilateral relationship with both countries also continuously embracing each other’s culture and traditions.
This year Filipinos and Koreans will once again showcase their love for each other’s culture and arts at “2015 Philippines-Korea Cultural Exchange Festival,” on Oct. 4, 6PM at Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila in Paranaque City.
Admission is free and is on first come, first served basis.
Contact United Korean Community Association 886-4848, 0920-923-8730 or Korean Cultural Center at 555-1711 for further inquiries.
Hosted by Korean Cultural Center (KCC) and the Embassy of Republic of Korea, together with the United Korean Community Association in the Philippines (UKCA) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the event will be featuring performances of Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group and Korean performance team Uhee Nori.
A Hanbok Fashion with the fusion of musical Chunhyang-jeon will also be showcased by K-Musical pupils of KCC.
Performers
The Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group has been one of Cultural Center of the Philippines’(CCP) leading resident companies since 1986 and has presented over a thousand traditional folk dance performances in the Philippines and abroad.
Uhee Nori is group of young and passionate performers of Korean classical music from the National High School of Traditional Arts.
They are professional artists who try their best to streamline Korean traditional arts and play so that more people around the world could enjoy the Korean traditional performances.
K-Musical students of KCC will be the lead of the Hanbok Fashion. Alongside with the fashion show, they will be performing the Korean musical “Chunhyang-jeon”. Chunhyang-jeon is based on a 17th century novel about a beautiful girl Chunhyang and is one of the best known traditional love stories of Korea.
Hanbok Advancement Center, a government center in Korea with an aim of promoting the Korean traditional clothing, designed the Hanbok of the performers.
Capping off the event are performances from K-Pop idol group FameUs and Asha.
Activities
Apart from the performances of the said groups, there will also be a speech contest, singing and dancing competition for both Korean and Filipino participants.
Raffle prizes, hanbok-wearing and Korean photo exhibition will also be available for the audience to enjoy.
The Philippines-Korea Cultural Exchange Festival is an annual event that aims to further enhance the bilateral relationship of Korea and the Philippines.
Last year, the cultural exchange festival was held at the Aliw Theater.
Performances of Molgae, a Korean traditional dance and percussion team and Bayanihan Dance Company, the national dance team of the Philippines was well enjoyed by Korean and Filipino audiences from different regions in the country.(PNA)