GCC, Korea call for deeper people-to-people, cultural ties

By Kim Young-jin

Officials and scholars from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Korea last week highlighted robust economic cooperation between the sides but called for deeper cultural exchange to move ties forward.

The call came during this year’s GCC Days ― an event that aims to boost cooperation between the six-member bloc and other regions ― held Thursday and Friday at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul.

Established in 1981, the GCC groups the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait into a political and economic union with a broad range of objectives.

In a keynote speech, GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah said economic and trade relations between the sides are “on track and moving forward.”

“The future is very bright and I’m sure the relationship will only grow,” Al-Attiyah said. “But we can strengthen the relationship based on people-to-people and cultural exchanges and convergence of our societies.”

It was first time the event was held in an Asian country, highlighting the importance of the GCC-Korea relationship.

Trade between the sides skyrocketed over the last decade, reaching some $79 billion last year, according to Chung Jong-hwan, Seoul’s minister of land, transport and maritime affairs, who gave congratulatory remarks. The number has doubled since 2005 and establishes the bloc as Korea’s fifth-largest trading partner.

Korea imports some 70 percent of its oil from the bloc. Meanwhile GCC member countries are a key in Korea’s overseas construction industry ― accounting for over 60 percent of its orders.

Al-Attiyah said the finalization of a GCC-Korea free trade agreement (FTA) between the sides, under negotiation since 2008, as well as strategic dialogue would consolidate the ties.

Minister Chung echoed the need “to go beyond economic cooperation.

“It is very regrettable that despite ever-expanding economic cooperation, social and cultural exchanges are not as active,” he said.

Chung explained that despite growing interest in the Arab world and Islamic culture elsewhere, Koreans still have little opportunity to interact with people from GCC nations.

Academics from the sides exchanged ideas on ways to foster cultural understanding including through tourism, education, and the role of women in sustainable development.

Several participants noted the potential for GCC counties to learn from Korea’s meteoric, export-driven rise from poverty in the wake of the Korean War (1950-53) to become host of the most recent host of a G20 summit.

Dr. Abdul Kahleq Abdullah, a professor at United Arab Emirates University, noted that both sides have to deal with geopolitical risks including nuclear threats as well as the influence of more powerful neighbors.

“The world is now paying more attention to the Middle East and Asia. Korea is a rising country in Asia, and GCC is doing the same in the Middle East. We can serve as a bridge between emerging economies in Asia and Europe,” he said.

He called for more Korean language programs in GCC countries and vice versa, as well as more translation of literature between the two.

Dr. Seo Jeong-min of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies said the sides can draw upon Korea’s long yet little-known history with the Islamic world.

Koreans visited the Middle East as many as 1,000 years ago and Arab scholars were the first to put the ancient kingdom of Shilla on a foreign map, he said. Large Muslim trade delegation arrived in Korea around that time and even established mosques in what is now North Korea.

To build on that history, Seo suggested the two sides establish joint commissions in such fields as education and science, and hold regular bilateral forums.

“This is the way to build a constant dialogue channel,” he said. “Through this we can develop other types of cooperation in order to open a new Silk Road.”