UAE Minister of Culture and Youth receives top award from South Korea

Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture and Youth, has been honoured with the "Diplomatic Service Medal," in recognition of her efforts to enhance relations with South Korea.

Al Kaabi was presented with the award on behalf of the South Korean President Moon Jae-in by his Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi.

The honour recognises her efforts in encouraging the launch of cultural and creative exchange programmes between the two countries.

She thanked President Moon for the medal and highlighted the nations' strong relations.

"The UAE-Korea Cultural Dialogue, which was launched at the start of the year under the theme, 'Converging Cultures', has opened new channels of discourse between creative communities in both countries through joint cultural events," Al Kaabi said.

"The ties between the two friendly countries are based on a deep vision involving harnessing their bilateral ties, to serve their development sectors and advance their future cooperation. This vision has also reinforced their cultural ties in various areas, such as the inauguration of the Korean Cultural Centre in Abu Dhabi (KCC), the Korea Festival in Abu Dhabi, and the King Sejong Institute at Zayed University," she added.

The UAE and South Korea designated 2020 as the year of cultural dialogue to step up exchanges and foster mutual understanding, as well as to pave the way for continued growth in the fields of culture and arts, education, media, and sports.

Since 2013, Abu Dhabi has hosted the Korea Festival, showcasing and celebrating Korean culture. The KCC’s opening in 2016 was a major cultural milestone between the two countries and is the first of its kind to be established in the Middle East.

Earlier this year, South Korea was named the Country of Honour in the annual Abu Dhabi Festival 2019.

South Korea will also host an innovatively designed pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai next year, capitalising on the country's global popularity as a soft power in future mobility technologies.

The UAE is South Korea's top trading partner in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The strategic relations between the two countries span various fields, including AI, innovation, economy, defence, culture, education and renewable energy. A key milestone for the UAE-South Korea strategic relations has been the commissioning of the Barakah nuclear power plant.