The event took place on the 4^th of December at the Hilton Sofia Hotel and gathered numerous guests, including officials, distinguished representatives of the Bulgarian business, diplomats, civil servants, journalists.

The Korean evening, along with its special presentation of Korean food, was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Republic of Bulgaria with the support of the the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of the Republic of Korea and the Korea Agro-Fisheries&Food Trade Corporation.

E. Mr. Jeong Jinkyu,Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the country to Bulgaria, welcomed the guests and gave a short speech:

I'm glad to host this event because the end of the year is a moment to look at the past 2018 and meet the coming 2019.

This year the bilateral relations between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Bulgaria have reached a new, higher level.

If we are talking about high-level exchanges, we should mention the visits of: Members of the National Assembly, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister of Economy, two respected parliamentary representatives and various other officials at local and central level.

In response to these visits from the Bulgarian side, a number of officials from the Korean government and state and private companies visited Bulgaria.

With regard to our economic and industrial cooperation, this year we have achieved a great deal, but there is still something to be desired.

Recently my embassy, ​​together with the Center for the Study of Democracy, organized a very successful energy forum. It was attended by the Bulgarian Energy Minister, the Chairman of the KEVR, as well as the head of Korea East Power Co. The Forum discussed a number of important issues in the partnership between our countries.

In addition, in November in Seoul, Korea hosted the second session of the Industrial Cooperation Committee. We have managed to cover an ambitious and broad agenda ahead of a high-level visit next year.

At the beginning of the year, Korea hosted the Winter Olympics and welcomed the Bulgarian representatives. And thanks to the excellent work of the Bulgarian Taekwondo Federation, led by its President Mr. Binev, we also had some excellent taekwondo events in Bulgaria. In addition, for the first time since the K-pop Festival in Bulgaria, we had Bulgarian representatives in the Korea Final - the Toxic group.

And many more successes have to be mentioned in the field of culture and sports and I hope that our cooperation will continue in the coming year...

After the welcome words came the surprise of the evening. H. E. Mr. Jeong Jinkyu together with some of the official guests, presented the special Korean dish on which the words "Korean-Bulgarian Friendship" were written.

The Korean evening in Sofia continued with exquisite musical performances of the traditional Korean string instrument gayageum.

And then Master Chem, who arrived from London specifically for the event, made an impressive demonstration of preparing traditional Korean dishes such as kimchi and kimchijeon, as well as other specialties shown in the Korean series Treasure in the Palace, recently aired on the Bulgarian National Television.

Guests also had the chance to get acquainted with and taste food and drinks of  prominent Korean companies such as: Bibigo, Kooksoondang, Hite Jinro, Sempio. It was a great opportunity for any Bulgarian company interested in importing Korean food to get more information about the products offered.

The photos were provided by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Republic of Bulgaria.