Khaled Osaily. خالد العسيلي رئيس بلدية الخيل السابق خالد العسيلي
The South Korean Ambassador Mr. Bark Shong Nam said today that his country shall support the Palestinian State Declaration project and welcomed recognition of this State with 1967 borders by a number of Latin American States. He expressed his interest in efforts by the International Community to ensure the materialization of this recognition and to build the basis for this State through the provision of support and assistance.
Mr. Shong Nam added that while South Korea lacks natural resources, it has succeeded in playing a major global economic role thanks to the development of its human capital which is the main driver of progress and development. “I am happy to take part today in this educational and cultural project and to place with you its inaugural stone in a city considered to be the center of industry in the Palestinian Territories, a city that also gives special attention to its cultural and educational conditions”, he added.
Mr. Shong Nam was speaking at a ceremony held at the Palestinian-Korean Cultural Center site where the inaugural stone for the project was laid and the end of Phase 2 of the project was announced.
The ceremony was also attended by Hebron Governor Mr. KamelHmeid, Head of the Education Directorate in Hebron Ms. NisreenAmre, Representative of KOICA in Palestine Mr. Kim, Director General of Police Forces in Hebron Governorate Col. Ramadan Awad, Deputy Commander of the area and a number of official and prominent personalities from Hebron Governorate.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Hebron Mayor KhaledOsaily welcomed participants and expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Korean government and people for their support and financing of projects in Palestine and for their support of the Palestinian just cause. “The progress and flourishing witnessed by Hebron could not take place without the huge support given to Hebron by President Abbas and PM Salam Fayyad and by the entire Council of Ministers. These projects and facilities prosper thanks to much appreciated efforts by our security apparatuses to ensure safety and security. Efforts made by the Education Directorate in cooperation with the Municipality to enhance education and to solve the problem of evening classes in Hebron are also much valued”.
Speaking about Korean-Palestinian relations Osaily said: “There are exceptional ties between the Korean and the Palestinian leaderships, and friendship ties between President Abbas and the South Korean President Mr. Lee Myung-bak. To strengthen these ties, a Korean-Palestinian friendship association was created and is chaired by Dr. Majdi al Khaldi. The association seeks to enhance and develop cooperation between South Korea and Palestine.
Mr. Hmeid then lauded efforts by Hebron Municipality to develop and provide financial and moral support to projects not only in Hebron city, but also throughout the Governorate. He called on the Korean Ambassador to urge his country to provide additional political support, and not only financial support, to the Palestinian leadership, adding that Palestinians, as much as they need projects, need freedom and the end of occupation even more.
Ms. Amre underlined the big difference made by education on the lives of Palestinians. “We seek to learn from Koreans who were among the poorest countries in the world 60 years ago. However, their economy is the 13th strongest economy in the world now thanks to their focus on education. This is what we are trying to do here for our children and for future generations”, she said.
This project is to be created on a 13-dunum piece of land donated by Hebron Municipality. It aims at responding to urgent educational and cultural needs in Hebron especially through facilities targeting children and youths. As part of its Strategy, Hebron Municipality, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, seeks to put an end to evening-classes in the city. The Municipality also cooperates with the Ministry of Sports and Youths and the Ministry of Planning in order to develop this project and ensure its implementation. An agreement was signed to this end and the Municipality shall supervise project execution works as well as run the youth center just like it runs other centers in the city.
The project includes an 18-classroom school with a total area of 2550 m2. The school shall also comprise management offices, computer, economy and science labs with all the furniture and equipment being provided by the Korean government. Moreover, the 3350m2 youth center shall include a 450 seats theatre, an indoor sports hall as well as music, plastic arts, counseling, journalism and media rooms. The Korean government shall train a team in Korea to be later on employed by the center, while Korean experts shall help run the center for three months following its inauguration. The third project component is a garden that shall provide breathing space for children and their parents. The building, school equipment and youth center equipment were entirely funded by the Korean government for a total cost of around 6 million US dollars.
