Accra: The 2025 Korea Festival in Accra highlighted the remarkable talents of Ghanaian students, who captivated audiences with their proficiency in delivering speeches in Korean and executing cultural performances.
According to Ghana News Agency, the event featured various competitions, including speech delivery, Korean cuisine, and K-pop choreography, aimed at promoting cultural exchange and strengthening the bilateral relationship between Ghana and the Republic of Korea.
Participants engaged the audience with speeches that touched on Ghanaian cultural heritage, societal challenges, education, and innovation. The Hansik Contest further showcased their culinary skills, as they prepared traditional Korean dishes. Andrew Alan Nii Anang-Tetteh emerged as the winner of the Korea Speech Contest, receiving a Samsung mobile phone for his presentation on an ancient painting symbolizing royalty in a Korean King’s sitting area.
Miss Mavis Doku, who won the Hansik Contest by preparing yangnyeom chicken, was awarded a microwave oven. She expressed her desire to expand her culinary knowledge of Korean dishes after exploring Thai and Indian cuisines. In the K-pop Festival, Miss Jerrilyn Marrilyn Nimeney, a three-time participant, impressed the judges with her choreography, earning a 32-inch LG LED television and a standing ovation.
The Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) organized the festival, which included participation from students of the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Ghana. Mr. Park Kyongsig, Korea’s Ambassador to Ghana, emphasized the festival’s role in fostering cultural exchange and providing Ghanaian youth with a platform to express their views on development and partnership.
He acknowledged that the topics discussed by participants aligned with the priorities of Korean youth and committed to offering more opportunities for Ghanaian students to present themselves in Korean and potentially visit Korea for scholarships. Mr. Nam Byungjun, a Korean teacher at the Centre for Asian Studies, who trained the speech contestants for 10 months, noted the enthusiasm of female participants, particularly their interest in Korean drama and aspirations to pursue academic careers in Korean universities.