The 2019 Korean National day and Cultural Festival was held on Tuesday November 12, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in a colourful celebration that had members of the diplomatic community, heads of organisations and top Nigerian government functionaries in attendance, including the Senate President, Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan.

Over 700 guests gathered at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton for the carnival-like celebration, as both Korean and Nigerian singers, took their turns to entertain guests at the event.

The event was hosted by the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nigeria, His Excellency Lee In-tae and his wife.

In his welcome address, Lee In-tae said: “Our history has been full of difficulties. In the last century, we were victims of colonialism, and then we suffered from the Korean War.

“Afterwards, many died from hunger and poverty. Yet, we worked hard and grew strong. We became one of the largest economies in the world, and achieved stable democracy.

And now we are trying to achieve peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, and for us to succeed, your strong support for our efforts is necessary.

“Despite the hardships of our history, Korea has become close friends with many countries, especially Nigeria.”

Other dignitaries present at the cultural fiesta included Mrs. Pauline Tallen, the Honourable Minister for Woman Affairs, Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah, the Minister of State, Mines and Steel Development.

The star of this year’s edition of the event was the legendary Yaemer – an acappella ensemble composed of vocalists and singers from the Seoul Institute of the Arts.

They thrilled the audience with a combined wide variety of genres with an acappella style and created a unique mix of scintillating songs.

The Yaemar group performed Lion King medley, Man in the mirror (by Michael Jackson), Believer (by Imagine dragons), One Candle (by G.O.D), Boy in Luv (by BTS) sandwiched by Bigvic’s Highlife performances.

Afterwards, the Yaemer group and Bigvic jointly performed a popular Nigerian song, One Love (by Onyeka Onwenu) to the cheer of the audience.

After the performances, guests were treated to a buffet of Korean cuisine, as Korean technology by LG and Samsung Electronics were also on display.