S-Oil joined last week’s events to mark the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Saudi Arabia and the direction of further cooperation, with a cultural event on the Han River on Saturday.

Sponsored by S-Oil, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosted the event at Chevit under the theme of “As-Salamu Alaikum,” meaning “peace be with you.” The event offered a taste of Saudi cuisine, costumes, henna tattoos, Arabic calligraphy and Arabic carpets, among other things.

“The company decided to sponsor the event to enlarge understanding of Middle East culture here,” an S-Oil official said.

Congratulatory performances by Saudi Arabia’s first-ever hip-hop artist Qusai, Korean girl group Bolbbalgan 4 and Zion. T entertained more than 1,000 in attendance, the company added. 

The celebration continued into the night with another gathering hosted by the embassy in the evening at Lotte Signiel Hotel in Seoul, attended by South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha, Saudi Arabian Economy and Planning Minister Adel bin Muhammad Fakeih and S-Oil CEO Othman al-Ghamdi. Some 150 representatives from the two countries joined the anniversary for friendship and further exchanges.

S-Oil is owned by Aramco Overseas Company, whose parent firm is the state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Company.

Saudi Arabia and Korea established ambassador-level diplomatic relations in 1962. Bilateral trade in 2016 reached $21.4 billion, with Saudi Arabia’s exports, mainly crude oil to South Korea, tallied at $15.7 billion. Imports of automobiles and electronics to Saudi Arabia totaled $5.6 billion.

The two countries on Wednesday also signed a memorandum of collaboration to broaden their cooperation in other industries as Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify away from its dependence on oil and gas dependence.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)