Korean troupe thrills audience with popular Ghanaian folklore

An audience at the Korean cultural display at the Accra International Conference Centre on Friday were thrilled with a Korean version of the Ghanaian popular folkloric song “Kyekye kule”.

The Korean female singer, who mesmerised the mix of foreign and local audience had finished singing a Korean song and gone off stage amidst thunderous applauds, but suddenly ran back to the stage to do the popular “kyekye kule”.

The occasion was the dual celebrations of 30th Anniversary of Ghana-Korea bilateral relations and the Korean National Foundation Day, which marked the founding of the first Korean Kingdom by the sacred forefather Dangun, 4,339 years ago.

As part of the celebration, the Korean National Cultural Troupe were in Ghana to participate in a weeklong cultural and sporting activities.

Prior to the “kyekye kule” performance, the audience watched with enthusiasm equally outstanding and colourful dance and music performances by the cultural troupe.

Notable among the performances were the eight female drummers surrounded with 15 sets of drums, which they skillfully played interchangeably.

Another performance, which could best be described as the peacock dance performed by the ladies, also stood out.

But the five hat-wearing percussionist with ribbons tied to the top of their hats definitely stole the show with beautiful rhythms and exquisite control of the movement of the ribbons attached to their hats.

In his remarks to open the show, Mr. Wi Keyei Chul, the Korean Ambassador to Ghana, expressed his country’s commitment to Africa, particularly Ghana, saying, “since President Roh Moo-hyun’s declaration of Korean Initiative for African Development last year, the Korean government has tripled its Overseas Development Aid (ODA) amounts to Africa.”

He said Korea had designated Ghana as its main ODA partner in Africa and that its support for Ghana’s economic development was rapidly increasing and in a more consistent manner.

Mr. Chul noted that this year alone, Korea had supported Ghana with information technology system.

“Now it is Korea’s firm policy direction to provide Ghana with two or three projects every year to support economic development and improve the lives of Ghanaians,” he said.

Mr Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning described Korea as an important development partner to Ghana and expressed the country’s gratitude for the Asian country’s immense contribution to the economic development of Ghana over the past 30 years.