Korea-Russia Arts and Culture Society President Lee Sang Kyun was awarded the Pushkin Medal from the Russian government for his role in strengthening ties between Seoul and Moscow.

During the opening ceremony for the Year of Mutual Exchange between South Korea and Russia held Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presented the award to Lee, chairman of the board at Seoul Cyber University, in place of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Korea-Russia Arts and Culture Society has played an important role in strengthening ties between Seoul and Moscow by inviting cultural leaders of Russia for events, organizing related cultural events, publishing newsletters on cultural exchanges and holding international meetings, the society said.

The society said it held an online international conference on cultural exchanges between Korea and Russia in October while establishing a platform for artists of both countries to collaborate and share ideas.

Lee has also worked to strengthen cultural exchanges between the two countries in the education field by holding cultural events at the Seoul Cyber University in collaboration with institutions in Russia.

The university holds remote piano lessons with high-tech remote learning system with Disklavier tools in cooperation with music colleges in Russia. The institution also provided opportunities for young pianists through the International Tchaikovsky Online Piano Competition in 2019.

Lee’s university recently held the first international vocal competition online with the Association of Tchaikovsky Competition Stars earlier this month, paving the way for new possibilities of hybrid-form music competitions.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)