As Korea and New Zealand celebrate a year of friendship this year, cultural events celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties will be held in New Zealand next week.

Three separate events will take place in Auckland on Sunday, Christchurch on Tuesday and Wellington on Friday featuring Korean music performances combined with New Zealand traditional performances, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Friday.

“I hope the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries will start to revitalize cultural exchanges,” said Woo Jin-young, director of Korean Culture and Information Service.

The event co-organized by the Culture Ministry and the Korean Embassy in New Zealand will be attended by key figures from Korea and New Zealand, including Korean Ambassador to New Zealand Park Yong-kyu, Mayor of Wellington Celia Wade Brown and New Zealand’s first Korean-born politician Melissa Lee.

The two-hour event will consist of performances by Korean group “Gong Myoung” and B-Boy dance group “Gorilla Crew” and music combining Korea’s Arirang and New Zealand’s folk song Pokarekare Ana.

Following the cultural event, classical music concerts, a Taekwondo demonstration performance and Korean food and a movie festival are planned from July to November.

The cultural event held in Wellington on Friday is expected to be broadcast live on the Internet at http://www.ustream.tv.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)