President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed 64 year-old Korean pop singer Yoon Hyung-ju as honorary consul of the Maldives in Korea.
A report in Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper, one of the country’s largest publications with a circulation of 2.2 million, claimed that Nasheed had offered the position to Hyung-ju when the singer visited the country at the government’s invitation from February 21-23.
The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair confirmed to Minivan News that Hyung-ju had been offered the position, “although the paperwork has not been completed yet.”
Hyung-ju, who is currently writing a song called ‘Save the Maldives’ for distribution across Asia and other parts of the world, told Chosun Ilbo that he wanted to let people in Korea know about the environmental challenges faced by the Maldives.
“I’ve long wanted to be a diplomat, and the dream came true at a late age,” Hyung-ju said.
“The reason I quit medical school when I was young wasn’t that I wanted to focus on my singing career but because I wanted to have a free-spirited life, travelling around the world.”
Hyung-ju said he had been introduced to the Maldivian Foreign Affairs officials when the diplomats visited Korea last year. It was these officials who had urged the President to make Hyung-ju an honorary consul, he claimed.
“Many people know the Maldives only as a tourist destination, but it is suffering from a number of difficulties. I will devote my remaining life to be of help to them,” the singer said.
Zuhair said that having a popular figure in Korea as honorary consul could “highlight Maldivian values and culture for would-be visitors.”
The job, he said, was unpaid and did not come with a diplomatic passport, although it “would include some privileges.”
South Korea is a major Asian tourism market for the Maldives, along with Japan and more recently, China. Minivan News understands that the Maldives is currently assessing whether to participate in this year’s World Expo, to be held in Korea.
President Nasheed’s previous appointees to the post of honorary consul include David Hardingham, founder of UK-based NGO Friends of Maldives.
(0)Dislikes
(0)