1. The ROK government, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean this year, presented to Panama a “ROK-Panama friendship tower” as a token of their friendship and shared prosperity. Its presentation ceremony was held at the home to the tower -- Amador, Panama City -- on December 4.
° The ceremony brought together some 200 people from various sectors of the two countries. The Korean participants in the ceremony included Ambassador to Panama Cho Byoung-lip, Director-General for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Jang Myung-soo and delegates of Korean companies operating in Panama as well as the local Korean community. The Panamanian side consisted of Marta Linares, First Lady and President of the National Committee in charge of organizing the 500th anniversary celebrations, Foreign Minister Fernando Fabrega and former President Aristides Royo.

2. Amador, the home to the tower, is an area that connects the Pacific Ocean and the Panama Canal. The tower, along with the “ROK-Panama friendship garden” being created around it, is expected to become a landmark representing the ROK-Panama friendship and the unity between the two different parts of the world and their cultures.

3. The friendship tower, a real-size replica of the ROK’s National Treasure No. 20 Dabotap, -- 10 meters in height and 130 tons in weight – along with the statues presented to other Latin American countries, is expected to play a significant role in promoting the ROK’s artistic sense and culture on the other side of the globe.

4. The ROK and Panama, one of the former’s key friends in Latin America, share universal values of mankind, such as liberal democracy, market economy and human rights, and have worked closely together in various fields since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1962. The presentation of the tower is expected to help bolster the foundation of cooperation in a wide range of fields with Panama, which plays a pivotal role in global trade and transport by connecting North and Central America with South America as well as the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean.

5. The installation of the replica of Korea’s significant cultural artifact Dabotap at the center of the global trade and transportation is also expected to greatly contribute to further enhancing the interest in and understanding of Korean culture that has lately and rapidly been spreading in Panama and in the rest of Latin America through Hallyu (Korean Wave). 


                        Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation