Koreans in Rwanda celebrate National Foundation Day

The South Korean community in Rwanda were joined by friends to mark the historical Korea National Foundation Day, also known as Tangun Day in a colourful event held in Kigali on Wednesday. The celebration attracted a large number of members of the diplomatic corps in Kigali, government officials and civil society. Park Yongmin, the ambassador of South Korea to Rwanda and Ambassador Jeanine Kambanda, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation at Korea National Foundation Day celebrations in Kigali. This national foundation day, which was celebrated on October 3 in South Korea, is aimed at acknowledging Korean culture and the achievements of the Korean people. The ambassador of South Korea to Rwanda, Park Yongmin, reiterated the importance of the cultural night towards strengthening cooperation between the two countries. “Rwanda is Korea’s priority partner in development cooperation and Korea is Rwanda’s strategic model from whose success and resilience meaningful inspiration can be drawn. “Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and Rwanda 52 years ago, the relationship between the two countries has spurred a remarkable progress in various fields,” Yongmin said. South Korea has been instrumental in supporting rural development, agriculture, education and ICT development in the country through Korean organisations including Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Rwanda. This year alone, South Korea unveiled a $11 million rural community development project in Rwanda, plus technical support to vocational and technical educational training programmes at Integrated Polytechnic Regional (IPRC) Kicukiro campus, among other interventions. Ambassador Jeanine Kambanda, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, who was the chief guest, said the cooperation between two countries has strengthened steadily, expanding to various developmental sectors. “South Korea has an edge in areas of ICT, public sector management and education; we believe that through the journey that South Korea went through Rwanda can also make it,” he said. Kambanda affirmed that Rwanda remains committed to continued partnership since the two countries share almost similar historical past and development path. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Koreans in Rwanda celebrate National Foundation Day