Nigeria - South Korea ; A paradigm shift in International Relations

Since the Republic of Korea and the Federal Republic of Nigeria established diplomatic ties in February 1980, Nigeria has been one of the most important friends of Korea in the African continent. In 2011, bilateral trade volume between the two countries exceeded 3 million US dollars, making it the second largest trading partner for Korea in Africa. Many of Korea’s top enterprises operate in Nigeria, including various sectors such as trade, power and energy. About 14 Korean companies will invest in Nigeria soon, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Lee In-Tae. Korea’s bilateral trade volume with Nigeria rose to $2billion in 2018 due to trade increase between the two countries.

Kdrama, the movie entertainment industry of South Korea and home to famous Hallyu (Hollywood of Korea) like Lee Min Ho, Chang Ji Wook , Park Shin Hye and plenty others is more like the major pathway through which Korean culture came to Nigeria not just Nigeria but the World, but lets focus on Nigeria. Fans are now seeing beyond the entertainment aspect of Kdramas. A lot of Nigerians have been able to learn a lot of basic expressions and phrases commonly spoken in Korean to practice their Korean Speaking skills from words used in Kdramas without having to take any formal classes. This has increased cultural relationship between both countries and improve profit in Korea. This will raise a great avenue for South Korea as it has produced more interest to Korea thereby increasing the foreign presence it has as korea is homogenous with amount of international interest especially from Nigeria because presently Nigeria is South Korea’s most important friend from the African Continent due to revenues recovered from the international trade of Korean products and industries.

Kpop is another part of the Korean wave that is rapidly growing. The most popular kpop group in Nigeria happens to be BTS and their Fandom known as ARMY has t he largest fan base amongst other kpop Fandoms in Nigeria. To mention a few others, we have BLACKPINK, MAMAMOO and more. It is a healthy practice for Nigerian growing youths and even Adults participate as there is no age limit to Kpop. Kpop Dance Competitions are even practiced in Nigeria.

In addition to its Embassy, the Republic of Korea has two other important institutions located in Abuja: the Korean Cultural Center Nigeria, and the Office of the Korea International Coope ration Agency (KOICA). The former is actively promoting cultural exchanges between Korea and Nigeria, while the KOICA Office is serving as a focal point in coordinating Korea’s grant aid implementation in Nigeria under the auspices of the Embassy. In Lagos, the Republic of Korea maintains a branch office of the Embassy and the Office of Korea Trade-Investment P romotion Agency (KOTRA).

Reference: https://africabusinessnetworking.com/14-korean-companies-to-invest-in-nigeria/n

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