SOUTH Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said the nation’s soft power matches its economic achievements at the start of a tour expected to focus on business and trade opportunities in the Middle East today.

K-pop stars have “charmed the world”, he said at Expo 2020 Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the first leg of a trip that will take him to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Moon talked up Korean pop music, TV and movies that have become wildly popular in many countries across the globe, including in nations in the Middle East.

“(Koreans’) yearning for mutual happiness has fostered soft power just as strong as their economic might,” he said, in a speech book-ended by sporting performances of taekwondo and traditional dance.

“Under a starlit desert sky this evening, a dazzling show of K-pop starts who charmed the entire world will come alive,” he told an audience of several hundred on a damp afternoon in Dubai.

Korean culture is riding high after the success of K-pop bands such as BTS, Oscar-winning film Parasite and TV shows like Squid Game.

The craze has not escaped the Gulf region, with BTS being the most streamed artist on Spotify in Saudi Arabia last year—a kingdom usually seen as a bastion of Islamic conservatism.

Moon’s UAE schedule includes meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Al-Maktoum and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Zayed Al-Nahyan.

He is expected to discuss cooperation in the hydrogen industry, a growing sector for the post-fossil fuels era, and collaboration in defence, infrastructure and climate change, according to Yonhap.

On Tuesday, Moon will meet Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed Salman in Riyadh, as well as Saudi sovereign wealth fund and oil giant Aramco head Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

He is expected to announce the resumption of Gulf free-trade talks after meeting Gulf Cooperation Council leader Nayef al-Hajraf on Wednesday, before discussions with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Thursday. – AFP, January 16, 2022.