Commemorative logo for 50th anniversary of Korea-India diplomatic relations released

NEW DELHI: India and South Korea have moved a step further towards celebrating the year 2023 as the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two major Asian nations. On Saturday, the South Korean Ambassador Chang Jae-bok unveiled a special commemorative 50^th anniversary logo on the occasion of India-Korea Friendship Day event at the Indo-Korean Friendship park. The logo truly captures the essence of friendship between India and South Korea and the significance of the historic occasion.

Though the bilateral consular relations between India and South Korea were established in 1962 but were upgraded to Ambassador-level on 10th December in 1973, thus completing 50 years in 2023.

“To mark this historic milestone in our diplomatic journey, our two Embassies decided to have a special commemorative logo and launched a joint logo-slogan contest on 17th October which was open till 18th November 2022. We received an overwhelming response from our two people. A screening committee assessed these submissions based on the contest parameters. Let me say that it was, indeed, very difficult to choose the winning design from the outstanding works,” said the Ambassador in his speech. The India-Republic of Korea Friendship Society headed by former Ambassador to Korea Skand R Tayal organised the event..

Ambassador Chang Jae-bok said that there was no better occasion than the golden jubilee celebration of our diplomatic ties to agree on a future roadmap to reinforce Korea-India Special Strategic Partnership.

“To this end, we see that the conditions are quite favorable. The evolving geo-political and geo-economic situation throw open further opportunities for expanding the frontier of bilateral cooperation. Our two countries are fortunate not to have the burden of any historical baggage or serious conflict of interest. … Given this, I am confident that just as we have achieved exponential growth in our bilateral ties over the past 50 years, we will be able to achieve even greater success and reach many more milestones over the next 5 decades.”

While remembering the age-old linkages between India and South Korea, the Ambassador remembered India’s contribution in the Korean War.

“Let me take this opportunity to express, on behalf of our grateful nation, our profound gratitude to General Thimayya and his contingent for the services and sacrifices that they made for Korea. Long before this, the marriage between a Korean king and an Indian princess created a deep bond of friendship between our two people,” he added.

Ambassador informed a very large group of Buddhist monks are planning to visit famous Buddhist sites in India in the golden jubilee year of our diplomatic ties, coming February-March.

Present on the occasion were Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Chairman, ICCR, Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), MEA, Brigadier RC Katoch Station Commander Delhi Cantonment, Ambassador Tayal, Parth Sharma, Secretary-General, India-Republic of Korea Friendship Society, Euy Don Park, Vice-President IRKFS & Chairman, Federation of Korean Associations, Jagdip Singh, honorary Consul General of Korea to Chandigarh, Sunghoem Park, President, KOSME, Ryu Jae-wan, VP, Hyundai Motor, Lee Kwang-il, President of PUAC India, Lim Tae Hwan, President of OKTA, Avinash Matta, Director, IRCON, Arvnind Agarwal, CEO, DOCMASTER,  senior officers from the Indian Defence Ministry, Indian Army and the Delhi Cantonment Board, Ambassador Vishnu Prakash, Vice Chairman, IRKFS, Avinash Gandhi, Director-General, IRKFS, and others. The event was sponsored by SIGMA group.

In his welcome address, Jagdip Singh, honorary Consul General of Korea to Chandigarh, and Chairman, Sigma Group of companies, said the friendship between our two countries was based on cultural and civilizational links.

“There are also bonds of history forged by the magnificent humanitarian participation of our Armed Forces in the Korean War and for the repatriation of the unfortunate Prisoners of War. The India-Korea Friendship Park is a warm tribute to our brave officers and men of the Indian Army and commemorates those heroic deeds which made a major contribution towards peace. The India-Republic of Korea Friendship Society has been actively promoting friendship, co-operation and interaction between the peoples and businesses of our two countries since 2003,” Jagdip Singh added.

Parth Sharma, Secretary-General, India-Republic of Korea Friendship Society, delivered a vote of thanks.