Indian students, researchers worthy ambassadors for strong Korea-India relations: Chang Jae-bok
SEOUL: The Indian community especially the Indian students and researchers staying in South Korea are worthy ambassadors for strong Korea-India relations. Their role in building the bridge of friendship and mutual understanding between the people of two nations is significant.
Chang Jae-bok, the new South Korean Ambassador to India said this while participating in the Indo-Utsav event organised virtually in Korea by the Indian Students and Researchers in Korea (ISRK) to commemorate the 75th Independence Day of India on August 15.
In his pre-recorded message played during the event, the Korean Ambassador said, “You all Indian students and researchers are worthy ambassadors for strong Korea India relations. Your role in building the bridge of friendship and mutual understanding between our two people is significant. I look forward to your role in strengthening Korea India partnership in the years ahead.”
Incidentally, India and South Korea, both clinched independence from the respective colonial ruler on August 15. It was in the year 1947 in the case of India, and 1945 for Korea.
While paying his gratitude for the Indian contribution in the liberation of Korea as well as during the Korea War between 1950 and 1953, the Korean Ambassador said, “When Korea was suffering under colonial rule (of Japan) and Korean people’s morale was an all-time low, India’s Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote an inspirational poem calling Korea the lamp bearer of the east which will illuminate entire Asia. The poem generated a deep sense of pride amongst the Koreans and instilled optimism and confidence that eventually brought liberation. India played an important role in the rebounding of our Korean Republic and also joined the Korean war.”
The Korean Ambassador said that the Indian and Korean cultural activities being held to celebrate the occasion would further strengthen the bonds of friendship between peoples of the two nations.
Surinder Bhagat, Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM), Indian Embassy, Korea also participated in the event through a pre-recorded video message.
He said, “A students-oriented and community-driven association, ISRK is a useful initiative as it provides a forum for all Indian students in ROK through which they can discuss research work, career opportunities, admission prospects, scholarships, and other issues of interest to our students’ community.”
Bhagat said though, a young association, the ISRK has conducted a series of events in the field of culture and education. It also provides exposure to the Indian students about the Korean culture and has played an important in bringing Indian and Korean communities together. The events like Indo-Utsav 2021 reinforce the feeling of spirit and culture oneness.
The DCM also called upon the students’ community to play a bigger role in promoting bilateral trade and commerce as well as for boosting cultural relations between the two countries. He also suggested that the embassy and students could collaborate to strengthen our friendly ties.
While quoting the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi from one of his Independence Day speeches, Bhagat said, “If each one of us irrespective of the place he belongs to, strives with a new resolve, strength, and energy, we can change the face of our country with the combined strength in the 75th year of our Independence in the year 2022.”
The Indo-Utsav organized by the Indian Students and Researchers in Korea (ISRK) event was a grand success on Independence Day on August 15.
Dr. Lailesh Kumar, President of ISRK which represents over 3000 students and researchers in Korea, said, “I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the participants for their overwhelming responses for the Indo-Utsav event. I want to especially extend my appreciation and thanks to the enthusiastic young children whose participation added a special charm to the event. Since it is a very happy coincidence that India shares its Independence Day, with South Korea, ISRK organized Indo-Utsav to celebrate this historic day together by including the people of Korea and India.”
Shanthi Prince, owner of Indian Chakra restaurant, Khazi Abdulla and Ms. Jamie, South Asia regional manager and marketing head of SENT Be and MERCK Life sciences, Korea provided financial support to the event.
Judges, Mukul Basu and Shanti evaluated the participation entries though the competition was very tough and what a herculean task it might have been for them.
Sanjeev K Ahuja, Founder and Senior Editor – Foreign Affairs (Asia), Asian Community News (ACN) Network, the media partner for the event also participated in the event. ACN supported the event by publicizing and promoting the Indo-Utsav event on its news platform as a media partner.
ISRK paid its gratitude to all Indian community leaders in Korea, specifically, Amit Gupta, President of Indians in Korea, Dr. Anil, President of Telugu Association in South Korea, Rama Sundaram, President of Korea Tamil Sangham and Padmanaban, Secretary of Korea Tamil Sangham, Jibi, President of Malayali Association of Korea, Dayanand, Moderator of Kannada Association in Korea, Dhiraj, moderator of Marathi Mandali and Srijan, moderator of Friends of Bihar and Jharkhand Association of Korea for providing their kind support as well as sharing and publicizing this event in their communities. Due to huge supports from Indian communities, more than 100 participants joined for Indo-Utsav event competition.
ISRK offered a big thank to Snehil, Sushrut, for their participation in this event. And a very special thank you to our Korean stars of the event, Ate, Jerome, and Jenna, for their mesmerizing performance as well as for setting a good example of cultural exchange between India and Korea.
We also extend our warm thanks to Dr. Vibhu Jain, Chairman of the Advisory Board of ISRK for his tremendous support as well as for guiding us from time to time since the conceptualization of the event. My vote of thanks will not be complete without the special mention of our Vice-President of ISRK, Dr. Iqbal Khazi. He is a strong pillar of this organization and leaves no stone unturned in making the event a grand success,” said the ISRK President.
ISRK also paid its gratitude and appreciation to other ISRK family members Apoorva, Manas, Parshant, Yogita, Dilip Patil, Srigouri, Shikha, Anwesha, Akshay, Falk, Vikrant, Bidisha, Hemant, Kunal, Nutan, Vasudeva, Sultana, Chinna, Senthil Kumar, and all the ISRK representative members.
Ritu Rawat and Gitika Thakur hosted the event.
Special thanks were given to Arun for providing his kind support in editing the special independence video in different regional languages of India, and to Shivani from Arts and Pixels for providing support during poster preparation.
