Colombian Minister of Culture Angelica Mayolo Obregon on June 7 holds an exclusive interview with Korea.net at the Colombian Embassy in Seoul’s Jongno-gu District.
By Anais Faure and Elias Molina with contribution from Lee Yu Rim and Jeong Mi Kyung
Photos = Jeon Han and Minister Angelica Mayolo Obregon’s Twitter account.
Video = Kim Sunjoo and Lee Jun Young
Colombian Minister of Culture Angelica Mayolo Obregon says, “Korea is a wonderful country from which we have much to learn from in global leadership of the creative and cultural industries.”
In an exclusive interview with Korea.net on June 7 at the Colombian Embassy in Seoul’s Jongno-gu District, she said, “The Colombian government sees many opportunities for collaboration with Korea and its companies in the field of creative content.”
The minister was in Korea on a three-day visit amid Colombia’s designation as guest country of honor at this year’s Seoul International Book Fair.
Held from June 1-6 at the Seoul COEX in the capital’s Gangnam-gu District, the fair attracted over 100,000 visitors and the Colombian Pavilion more than 40,000. The pavilion featured 38 literary works by renowned Colombian writers translated into Korean, including those by Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
On her nation’s participation in the fair, the minister said, “Just as the 500,000 Colombians who visited the Korean Pavilion at the 2022 Bogota International Book Fair in April were impressed with the quality of Korean literature, Koreans were able to discover Colombia’s cultural richness and diversity through literary works such as short stories, poetry and novels.”
“We are very happy with the chance to showcase our literature on the Asian continent and continue bringing Korea and Colombia closer.”
A lawyer by training, Minister Mayolo was appointed to her post in May last year. Born in 1990, she is the youngest cabinet member in Colombian President Ivan Duque’s government. Graduating with a degree in law from Javeriana University in Cali, she went on to earn a master’s in international law from the University of California-Los Angeles. From 2018, she headed the Secretariat for Economic Development of Cali, the third-largest city in Colombia.
On the significance of exchange between the two countries to mark the 60th anniversary of bilateral ties, the vibrant and confident minister, 32, expressed her nation’s intent to boost relations through greater cooperation in the creative and cultural industries.
The following are excerpts from the interview.
– To help mark the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations, Korea was guest country of honor at the Bogota International Book Fair in April and Colombia was the same at the Seoul International Book Fair in early June. What was the significance of this exchange?
For us, making Korea guest country of honor at the Bogota International Book Fair was very significant. Undoubtedly, I think that learning more about Korean culture in Colombia has been very important to understand this wonderful country, and I am sure that as a result of this introduction to Korea through the book fair, many Colombians will visit Korea in the years to come.
On the Seoul International Book Fair, I would like to say it was a world-class event to find publishing companies from all over the world presenting literary works on a great stage such as (the Seoul) COEX. For the Colombian delegation, we had a diverse delegation in the literary genres and regions they represented such as ethnic communities.
And I think Koreans were very impressed with Colombia’s cultural diversity, which we consider our greatest wealth. We are very happy with the possibility of showcasing our literature on the Asian continent and continuing to bring Korea and Colombia closer.
– Korea has many students wishing to learn Spanish. What do you want to tell them?
For us, attracting Koreans to study Spanish in Colombia is very important. The Ministry of Culture runs the Caro and Cuervo Institute (Instituto Caro y Cuervo), which is dedicated to the preservation of native languages and Spanish. We are promoting this option at universities in Seoul so that more Koreans can study Spanish in our country.
– What are the prospects for cooperation in culture, sports and tourism?
The Colombian government sees many opportunities for joint work with Korea and its companies in the creative and cultural industries. Today, Colombia has leading production companies of the world such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO and MTV Network making movies and series in our country.
Of course, we’re also interested in working with more Korean companies; we want them to come to Colombia to produce series, movies and, more generally, audiovisual productions, such as with the example of the film “Bogota,” which is set to be released this year. We have also had cases of musical collaboration between Korean and Colombian artists and see great potential in the combination of K-pop and reggaeton.
– You attended an important event for Colombian culture on June 5 at Ttukseom Hangang Park in Seoul. What was it?
It was a wonderful event. Led by Colombian Ambassador to Korea Juan Carlos Caiza, we wrapped up our participation in the book fair by showcasing various aspects of Colombian culture. We inaugurated the gorgeous mural “Colombia Esencial (Essential)” made by the company Vertigo. The work shows the diversity of regions in Colombia and the colors of our landscapes. I invite all Koreans to visit, take pictures with the mural and get acquainted with Colombia.
Minister Angelica Mayolo on June 5 attends the tape-cutting ceremony to unveil the mural “Colombia Essential” at Ttukseom Hangang Park in Seoul.
After that, we had a concert that reflected the combination of traditional Colombian and electronic music, and it was a great space to show Koreans the richness of Colombian music. We had dance and folk expressions, and it was a great space for cultural exchange where the vice culture minister of Korea joined us.
afaure@korea.kr
