Strong Growth Potential of Cultural Exchange between Vietnam and Korea

Vietnam and Korea are two countries with many cultural similarities. Like Vietnam, Korean people also welcome a traditional New Year according to the lunar calendar with many rituals and activities imbued with traditional culture.

Hanbok fashion display, a highlight of the 2023 Korean Culture Day program in Hoi An

Established in 2006, the Korean Cultural Center under the Korean Embassy in Vietnam is the first cultural center in Southeast Asia and serves as a cultural messenger between the two countries. The Center has been organizing diverse events to introduce Korean culture to a large number of Vietnamese people over the years, thereby, contributing to further strengthening exchange relationships two-way culture between Vietnam and Korea.

In 2023, KCC organized large-scale Vietnam - Korea cultural exchange festivals in many localities across the country, including Hanoi, City. Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang, Hoi An, Sapa... Besides, various events to introduce and promote typical Korean cultural content such as K-pop, cinema, and cuisine... have also been held very successfully. Among them, the "K-pop Lovers Festival 2023" has attracted tens of thousands of audiences with an experiential space rich in Korean culture and K-pop. This cultural exchange process helps enhance understanding of each other and promotes the process of people-to-people exchange between the Korean community in Vietnam and the people of the host country.

Vietnam and Korea are two countries with many cultural similarities. Like Vietnam, Korean people also welcome a traditional New Year according to the lunar calendar with many rituals and activities imbued with traditional culture. Koreans also have a tradition of turning to their ancestors and parents during major holidays. Therefore, on the first day of the New Year, we also have a Tet reunion like in Vietnam, children and grandchildren return to their grandparents and parents to enjoy a cozy family atmosphere with Tet dishes, and children receive lucky money at the beginning of the year. In addition, in Vietnam, Ao Dai is often worn in early spring, in Korea it is a beautiful hanbok.

The fashion show at Vietnam-South Korea Festival 2023 in Da Nang

However, the Korean New Year is also different from Vietnam. We do not have a long Tet holiday like in Vietnam. In Korea, every Tet and Mid-Autumn Festival, we only have about 3 days off. The dish often mentioned during Korean New Year is rice cake soup while in Vietnam it is Banh Chung.

It can be said that although different but similar, Tet in Korea and Vietnam have their unique points, but I find Tet is still a big holiday that brings an exciting atmosphere for a new year full of good hope in each country

Entering the year of the Dragon 2024, the Korean Cultural Center will constantly strive to further expand the scale, quantity, and quality of events to strengthen the close relationship and cohesion of people of the two countries through culture. Especially, outside of big cities like Hanoi and City. In Ho Chi Minh City, the Center will actively bring programs introducing Korean culture to provinces and localities that want to learn about Korean culture. The content of the programs will not only familiar categories such as K-pop or cuisine but will mention Korean cultural forms that are quite new to Vietnamese people such as comics, literature, games…

Through those unremitting efforts, we hope to take advantage of the space and promote the strong growth potential of people-to-people cultural exchange between the two countries.

Choi Seung Jin

Director of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam

Source: Vietnam Business Forum