Korea opened the doors to its cultural center in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on March 10. This is the first Korean cultural center in the Middle East, and the 29th worldwide.

The establishment of the Korean Cultural Center in the UAE is the outcome of Korea-UAE cooperation. During President Park Geun-hye’s visit to the Middle East, Korea and the UAE signed a memorandum of understanding that covers the establishment of cultural centers in both countries so as to boost bilateral cultural exchanges in 2015.  

The Korean Cultural Center in the UAE opens in Abu Dhabi on March 10. It's situated in Khalifa Park near the Ministry Area where UAE government organizations are located. It's also highly accessible from nearby cities, such as Dubai and Al Ain.

The Korean Cultural Center in the UAE is a two-story building with 1,556 square meters of floor space. It has a "traditional experience zone," a virtual reality center, a martial arts area, a cooking classroom and a library. It offers Korean cooking classes, features a halal food zone and also has seminar rooms. Visitors to the center can appreciate the "K-culture experience hall" that introduces Korea using ICT, featuring presentations that use virtual reality, holograms and videos. This is Korea's first cultural center to have such a hall as a permanent exhibition.

The traditional experience zone offers an opportunity for people to experience traditional Korea first-hand. They can try on some Hanbok using virtual reality and can view an exhibit of holograms about Korea's cultural heritage. In the "cultural industry zone," visitors can appreciate an exhibition of popular comics, cartoons or animated shorts, listen to K-pop and watch soap operas. They can also learn more about Korean pop culture through the center’s media library. In the halal food zone, cooking classes for food that is both Korean and halal will be held. The center will also run language courses in Korean and Arabic.
 

UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan (right) tries on some virtual Hanbok. Visitors to the Korean Cultural Center in the UAE can learn all about Korea, including an exhibit of holograms of Korean cultural assets, K-pop music, and virtual reality presentations of images of Korean food, all supported by cutting edge ICT.

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development Afra Al Sabri said that she is glad that a Korean Cultural Center has been built in the UAE, a center of transport, business and tourism in the Middle East. She further hoped that the cultural center will be able to introduce to the Middle East various aspects of Korean traditions and arts, ranging from K-pop, films and TV shows through to more modern aspects of Korean society. She hoped that it will actively act as a center for cultural exchange and help to introduce the culture of the Middle East to Korea, too.

Director of the Korean Culture & Information Service Park Younggoog said, “I expect the Korean Cultural Center in the UAE to be able to introduce the essence of Korea and its culture industries to the Middle East, and continuously expand its role as a channel for communication and bilateral exchanges.”