South Korea Ambassador to T&T Moon-up Sung. Photo: Sue-Ann Wayow
Ambassador Sung: T&T can Create Sweet Music with South Korea
CARIBBEAN COVID-19 FEATURES INTERNATIONAL MAIN STORIES T&T NEWS January 7, 2021
By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE Republic of Korea is approximately 15,000 km away from Trinidad and Tobago.
With a history stemming more than 700,000 years ago, the nation that is also known as South Korea is clearly not to be confused with its northern counterpart which boasts of having one of the strongest military borders in the world.
Its peninsula is flanked by China to its west and Japan to its east with a total area of 100,364 kilometres squared. Surrounded by water on three sides, the mostly mountainous country has an average population of over 50 million people compared to Trinidad and Tobago’s 1.4 million.
But these two countries, miles apart, have strong relational ties with a foundation being built in 1985 with the establishment of the Korean Embassy in the capital city of Port-of-Spain.
Current ambassador Moon-up Sung has been in T&T since May 2018.
He has represented his country in other parts of the world including France, Afghanistan, the United States, Sweden and Australia before landing on Caribbean terrain. His favourite aspect of this twin-island state apart from the kind and loving people is the weather.
Ambassador Sung spoke with AZPNews.com recently at the Embassy at Elizabeth Street, St Clair.
Korean culture exploding
He shared how proud he was of the dynamite Korean culture making a name globally, the peaceful relationship between the two countries and made suggestions on how greater influences could be made.
Additionally, he spoke about the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on both countries mentioning that Korea and T&T have been relatively successful at managing the spread.
He said the T&T’s management has been quite “impressive” due to Covid-19 protocols enforcement and the collaboration from citizens.
While the pandemic continues to evolve, Sung says that focus on public health and the medical sector should take precedence for both countries going forward.
And though vastly different, there are similar traits shared between the two, including importance on education, human resource development, diversity, rich culture and creativity and modernisation.
About the influence of Korean culture that has been exploding into the world and captivating the attention of men and women, young and old with T&T being no exception, Sung said that he felt proud that even though Korea was so physically distant, nationals from Korea and T&T were able to connect through many cultural exchanges and interactions with not even language being a barrier.
Both countries, he said, should capitalise on this cultural exchange.
Last year, Korean film Parasite won four awards at the Oscars including Best Picture, the first non-English film to win the award.
T&T embracing Korean culture
Global sensation boy band BTS was named by Time magazine as the Entertainer of the Year 2020 and is also the first K-pop group to be nominated for a Grammy award which will now take place on March 14 instead of January due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is delightful to witness and celebrate the international accomplishments and local recognition of Korean entertainers influence on the music and film industries.
“I appreciate how much Trinbagonians have embraced Korean culture locally and I am pleased to see their interests and love for K-Pop and Korean films continue to grow over the years. Especially, when everyone has been so affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, it really does mean a lot that Korean culture has created such a platform where everyone across the world could relate to each other,” Sung said.
Over the years, the Embassy has held several Korean cultural events ranging from traditional music and dance performances to Korean films, essay and K-Pop contests.
However, due to Covid-19, some of these events were held through an online platform. It is mainly through these cultural platforms that knowledge about Korea is shared with the local public.
The ambassador said last year, it was encouraging to receive many entries for the competitions beyond their expectation. The embassy hosted its annual K-Pop contest which had participants showcasing their K-pop singing or dancing talents, as well as the Essay contest. Those who wrote essays had meaningful suggestions on ways in which relations can be strengthened with one suggestion being Korea, because of its technological influence can better assist with the medical care in T&T.
Korean Wave or Hallyu
One major event which could not be hosted was the annual Korean Film Festival due to Covid-19. Sung is hopeful that this year, it will be possible.
He said, “Given the many restrictions caused by Covid-19, the Embassy was unable to host its usual cultural events this year as it would be best to enjoy these cultural experiences through gatherings and face-to-face activities.
“In 2021, the embassy will continue being committed to encouraging Korean culture to be shared among Trinbagonians and promoting the culture of T&T in Korea.”
Some of these events will be hosted by combining online and offline platforms while observing all heath protocols, he added.
The Hallyu or Korean Wave– a term used to refer to the popularity of Korean entertainment and culture began rolling across firstly the East Asia countries and then the rest of the world in the mid-1990s after Korea entered into diplomatic relations with China, and Korean TV dramas and pop music became quite popular in Chinese speaking communities.
Sweet music
The internet has aided greatly in building a virtual bridge between the two republics and Sung believes that this will continue to play a crucial role in cross- culture.
T&T can create sweet music with Korea, Sung said and he is optimistic about the possibilities.
“I believe T&T and Caribbean music and culture are so creative, which has produced so many outstanding artists over the years. I hope to see this creativity continue to blossom in the future with possible musical and cultural collaborations between Korea and the Caribbean region on a global scale,” he told AZPNews.com.
South Korea Ambassador to T&T Moon-up Sung speaking with AZPNews.com Senior Reporter Sue-Ann Wayow
The culture demonstrated through the mass media is being accepted more internationally because Korea is showcasing it to the world, he said.
Korean producers include elements that anyone can relate to and artists simply perform well due to their hard work, Sung said.
Trade
In terms of trade, Korea, a global leader in technology, has given T&T, automobiles and electronics mainly mobile phones while T&T has traded natural gas, petrochemicals including ammonia and methanol to Korea.
Sung said, “Trade between T&T and Korea has continuously increased over the past decade.
The trade has been adversely affected by Covid-19 in 2020 due to the fluctuation of prices of natural gas and petrochemicals which are the main export of T&T to Korea.
“Once the world recovers from Covid-19, the trade between the two countries is believed to continue to grow again. And this mutually complementary economic and trade structure will become a fundamental stepping stone to deepen the relations between the two countries.”
T&T citizens have also increased their interest in Korean food, snacks and clothing which he thinks Korea can export more to T&T. He suggested that T&T export more food, namely chocolates and alcohol to Korea.
Korea and T&T also agree in protecting universal values such as global peace and human rights at the government to government level and on the international stage including the United Nations.
“Trinidad and Tobago has been a great partner country with Korea to protect those universal values. In light of this, I greatly appreciate the Government of T&T for supporting the efforts to ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” Sung said.
Through the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) Programme, the Embassy has recommended Trinbagonian students with great interests in Korea to study for undergraduate or postgraduate degrees in Korea. The GKS programme provides students with an opportunity to gain deeper knowledge in their field of study and have a first-hand experience of Korean culture.
Sung said, “I wish more Trinbagonians will visit and travel to Korea to experience Korean culture, values and advanced Information Technology and simultaneously I wish, on the other hand, more Korean tourists to come to T&T to appreciate Caribbean culture including Carnival. By enjoying creative music such as the steelpan and calypso, they will be able to experience the diversity of Caribbean culture.”
He hopes that post-Covid-19 and with the opening up of borders that there will be more personal interactions amongst citizens of the two nations.
He said, “I also think it was a period for testing for how the people of T&T operate and endure. Economically, there have been some suffering and I hope that, that will change soon.
We have had a sense of community, of taking care of each other and I wish everybody health and success.”
(Information about Korea taken from the book Facts about Korea published by the Korean Culture and Information Service, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism).
