K-pop concert held in UAE to mark Moon's visit

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook applaud in the Korea-UAE Cultural Exchange Performance at Abu Dhabi National Theatre, Monday. Korean singers and the Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra performed. / Yonhap

By Kim Rahn

ABU DHABI ― President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook took part in a cultural event at Abu Dhabi National Theatre, at which Korean artists and singers and a United Arab Emirates (UAE) orchestra performed, Monday.

Co-organized by culture ministries of the two nations, the Korea-UAE Cultural Exchange Performance drew an audience of 1,500 including government officials, Korean residents here, members of fan clubs of Korean singers and actors, and Korean soldiers in the Akh Unit dispatched here.

At the entrance, a traditional UAE art troupe presented an Al-Ayyala performance, which UNESCO lists as intangible heritage, for Korea's first couple.

Together with the Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra, Korean singers and bands performed theme songs of Korean soap operas and movies that have been popular in the UAE. They were girl group Apink, singer Lyn, ethnic fusion band 2nd Moon and pansori singer Kim Yul-hee.

Moon took photos with the performers after the concert, saying he expects more exchanges in culture and tourism between the two nations.

Hallyu, or the Korean wave, has been popular in the UAE. Korean soap operas began to be aired in 2007 with “Winter Sonata” and “Jewel in the Palace.” The attention to Korean culture rapidly grew after Korea won a nuclear plant construction project in Barakah in 2009.

A growing number of colleges in the UAE are offering Korean language classes, and the country has 15 hallyu fan clubs.

Before the show, Moon and Kim visited an exhibition in the theater commemorating the Year of Zayed, with 2018 marking the 100th year since the birth of UAE's first president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who is regarded as the founding father of the country.