Srinagar: South Korean Ambassador Chang Jaebok Tuesday said that Seoul and New Delhi needed to promote cultural ties and a people-to-people exchange programme to increase tourist footfall to Kashmir.
Talking to reporters in the sidelines of the sidelines of the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting held at Srinagar's Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, he said that both India and Korea need to promote peoples exchange programmes and cultural ties and develop interest among the people about the other country.
"It will take some time as it is not so easy to bring Korean pop stars to India as they have their own agenda like Indian movie stars have their own agenda. We need to promote people exchanges and cultural exchanges between our governments so that the people will have more interest in both the countries," Ambassador Jaebok said on Kashmir being promoted as a destination for filmmaking.
He said that Korea as one of the invited countries for the G20 summit in Kashmir was "very much" supportive of the G20 presidency of India and wanted it to be a success.
Ambassador Jaebok said that this year Korea and India were celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties and through these celebrations they would have cultural events, which would generate interest among people of both the countries.
"Bringing Korean tourists to Kashmir will take some time but the governments of both India and Korea need to promote cultural exchange to have increased footfall of tourists from Korea to Kashmir," he told reporters here.
About some countries skipping the G20 summit in Srinagar, the Korean Ambassador said each country had its own stand on every specific issue. “However, as far as the Korean delegation is concerned, we are very supportive of the G20 presidency of India and want its success and that is why I am here as an ambassador," he said.
Sharing his excitement of being part of the G20 summit in Srinagar, Ambassador Jaebok while talking about his experience of shaking legs with ‘RRR’ fame actor, K Ram Charan on 'Naatu Naatu' song said it was so good and exciting to dance with a star like Charan. "It was a dream come true for me as I never imagined it would ever happen," he said.
About his experience of taking the Shikara ride in the waters of Dal Lake, the Korean Ambassador said the ride gave him a serene experience at sunset with the mountains in the backdrop.
