[Friends for decades] Jordan and Korea build on six decades of friendship
The Arab world meets Asia at the diplomatic residence of Jordan in Korea.
On the walls are paintings depicting the cityscape of Amman, as well as classic mosaic pieces put together by Jordanians and Koreans, but there is yet another work that stands out.
A traditional calligraphic work in Hangul, keeping to the traditional vertical format, spells out the Jordanian ambassador’s name by taking the sounds of the Arabic words and transliterating them into Korean symbols.
“I find Hangul quite fascinating,” said Asal Al-Tal, speaking at her residence recently. “The alphabet is very easy to learn, I can read and write, and I hope to be fluent one day.”
The envoy, who was chargé d’affaires for the Embassy of Jordan in Seoul from August 2021, was promoted to ambassador last January.
In her time in Seoul, Al-Tal has noticed an increase in interest in cultural exchanges including for language study between the young populations of Jordan and Korea.
“The King Sejong Institute opened in Jordan last year, so we will likely see more students taking up the Korean language and Korean studies in Jordan,” she said. “I’ve also met many Koreans who’ve been going to Jordan to learn Arabic, so the interest between the peoples of Jordan and Korea are growing both ways.”
A career diplomat since 1999, Al-Tal has had posts in the United States, Switzerland, Belgium and in bureaus on American and European affairs.
To find out more about Jordan-Korea relations, including how the two nations marked their 60th anniversary of establishing ties this year, the Korea JoongAng Daily sat down with Al-Tal at her residence in Seoul. The following are edited excerpts of the interview.
Jordan’s foreign policy has always been that of being open with everyone, it’s one of the founding principles of our foreign policy. We understood early the importance of Korea and relations with North East Asia in general, an understanding that we maintain today.
Jordan imports from Korea mainly cars and parts for vehicles, as well as home appliances. Korean brands like Samsung and LG are very popular in Jordan and trusted by consumers. Our exports to Korea are mainly potash, aluminum and copper, fertilizer materials and raw materials used in textile manufacturing.
Prior to the pandemic, we had 23,000 Korean tourists in Jordan in 2019. We’re hoping to recover that number soon. Many were visiting Petra, one of the new seven wonders of the world, carved from rock thousands of years ago. I also recommend visiting the Dead Sea, which is located on the lowest point on Earth. For those passionate about history, I recommend the city of Jerash, where they will find well-preserved Roman historical sites.
Timeline of Jordan-Korea relations
1962 Establishment of ties
Jordan and Korea established diplomatic relations in July 1962.
1983 King Hussein visits Seoul
King of Jordan Hussein bin Talal visited Korea from Sept. 10 to 13, 1983, the first time that a king of Jordan and a leader of a Middle Eastern nation visited Korea. Leaders from other countries in the region such as Qatar and Egypt visited Korea around this time as well.
1999 King Abdullah II visits
King Abdullah II of Jordan visited Korea from Dec. 4 to 6, 1999, as part of an Asia tour that included Japan. The visit came within the same year that the king ascended to the throne. During the visit, the king and President Kim Dae-jung approved an agreement to boost cultural exchanges through 2001.
2015 The royal visit
King Abdullah II of Jordan visited Korea in September 2015 and met with President Park Geun-hye. Marking the king’s fifth visit to Korea since his coronation, the two sides discussed cooperation on construction, energy, defense, health, culture, education and development.
2019 Korean tourists in Jordan
The number of Koreans visiting Jordan grew steadily from 12,789 in 2016 to 16,921 in 2018, and peaking at 23,000 in 2019, according to the Jordan Tourism Board. Since the onset of the pandemic, the numbers have dropped to 7,763 in 2020 but are slowly showing signs of recovery.
2020 Korea builds schools
Korea built three schools in Mafraq, Irbid and Zarqa, between 2017 and 2020, through allocation of its official overseas development aid, with the intention that these schools provide education to children of Syrian refugee families. A pilot project for the King Sejong Institute opened in Jordan in July 2020, launching formally at the University of Jordan in 2021.
2022 Anniversary of 60 years
To celebrate 60 years of Jordan-Korea relations, the Embassy of Jordan in Seoul opened an exhibition at the Multiculture Museum of Korea on Jordan’s folklore from July to August, showcasing traditional life in Jordan in the late 19th and early 20th century. The exhibition included traditional costumes and mosaic pieces done by Jordanian students studying the art of mosaic-making. There was also a joint Jordan-Korea exhibition at the Asia Culture Center in Gwangju, where art works made by jointly Korean and Jordanian artists were shown.
BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]