Yi Whan-woo, koreatimes.co.kr
Ambassadors of Central and South American countries pose with Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis] Park Sang-hoon, third from left in the front row, and Yongsan-gu District Office chief Sung Jang-hyun, fourth from left in the front row, during a ceremony to celebrate the reopening of the Latin American Plaza in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Nov. 1. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo
The 1,260 square-meter plaza was set up in October 2004 to mark the friendship between Latin American countries and Korea.
The ceremony to celebrate the reopening drew dignitaries from Latin America and Korea, including ambassadors, Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Park Sang-hoon and Yongsan-gu District Office chief Sung Jang-hyun.
The ceremony included the unveiling of a plaque printed with the flags of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
"I congratulate the rebirth of the plaza 14 years after it opened, under strong support from the Yongsan-gu District Office," Argentine Ambassador Jorge Jose Alberto Roballo said.
He outlined relations between Latin America and Korea from the 1950s, including Colombia joining the 1950-53 Korean War, humanitarian and medical support from other regional countries and the establishment of bilateral treaties.
"I hope our meeting today here serves as a new opportunity to re-highlight our friendship and enhance it," Roballo said.
Deputy Minister Park echoed a similar view, saying: "Korea has been developing friendly ties with Central and South American countries in politics, economics, culture and people-to-people exchanges and other areas since it signed its first diplomatic treaty among the regional countries with Brazil in 1959."
He said people have shown a growing interest in traveling to the countries.
He said the number of Central and South American tourists to Korea more than doubled to 70,000 over the past 10 years and more Korean tourists are going to Central and South America following the launch of direct flights.
Yongsan-gu District Office chief Sung said Korea never forgets the help it received from Latin American countries and that his district considered caring for the Latin American Plaza as a "responsibility and obligation."
"The Latin American Plaza is historically significant and you can see this is very precious," he said.
Panamanian Ambassador Ruben Arosemena thanked Yongsan-gu for "being kind to host many embassies for Central and South American countries."
He delivered a plaque of appreciation to Sung on behalf of the diplomatic mission from Latin America.
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