Including the Ambassador of Nigeria and CDA of Sierra Leone
By Feature Writers Kim Hyung-dae, Joy Cho, Joseph Rhee, Photographer Jeong Da-jeong
Mayor Choi Kyung-sik of the Namwon City, Jeollabuk-do Province said, “Here in Namwon, a city that is making a great leap into an Era of Brilliant Culture and Future Industry, we are opening a great festival on the theme of 'A Global World United by Drones' today!”
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the ambitious ‘World Drone Festa’ in the Namwon City, some 175 miles south of Seoul, Mayor Choi added, “It is very meaningful and gratifying to be able to showcase Korea and Namwon's cultural arts and drone leisure sports powerhouse to the entire world and I am so grateful that our Festival is graced by the attendance by members of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps led by Ambassador Ali M Magashi of Nigeria and Acting Ambassadress Agnes Mbayo of Sierra Leone. (See list of visiting members of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps at the end of this article.—Ed.)
The 2023 Namwon Drone Festival was attended by many important personalities from around the world as well as from within Korea.
In particular, the Festival was attended a number of the members of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps who enthusiastically took the trouble to come all the way down to the Namwon City, braving the trouble of travelling four hours from Seoul to Namwon.
They included Ambassador and Mrs. Ali M. Magashi of the Republic of Nigeria and Charge d’Affaires Mrs. Agnes Mbayo of Sierra Leone.
Also in attendance at the opening ceremony was President David Monks of World Air Sports Federation or FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale).
In a congratulatory message to the meeting, President Monks said: “Congratulations to the organizers for this well-prepared FAI event. It is going to be a very challenging competition in all three of the planned events. We expect to have both day and night flights which will make the event more spectacular and we expect a lot of people to visit the venue in order to watch the activities until Monday. I wish all competitors the best of luck!”
Then he said, “I would like to thank Governor Kim Kwan-young for his efforts in organizing the fair, and we would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Kim Young-guk, Aviation Policy Officer at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, for taking time out of his busy schedule to attend the event.
The 2023 Namwon World Drone Festival is the first time in Korea, a large-scale international event called for the first time in Korea.
More than 2,000 athletes from 35 countries are scheduled to participate in the
Festival, including drone soccer and e-drone competitions, international drone coding and drone soccer on the world stage.
Through this global drone industry expo and conference, the designation of a drone demonstration city and a special free trade zone for drones, the current status of Namwon's drone industry and the potential for future development.
All the teams registered for this event arrived on the previous day or during the previous days and have had the opportunity to visit the area where the event will take place.
The track is ready for the pilots, and promises impressive flights displays at daytime and also at night. The organizers (City of Namwon, Federation of Korea Aeronautics (FKA) and Korean Aeromodelling Association (KAMA) have been working very hard during the year to prepare this spectacular event.
The 2023 FAI WDRC is the main event of the World Drone Festa, and there are two other events organized under the FAI umbrella: the first e-drone racing event and a Drone Soccer Open International Event.
Korea is a leader in the drone industry and a Drone Conference Expo is also taking place during the World Drone.
On October 5, the participants were registered and collected their accreditation cards and other useful material and an official photo session was organized for each team. The officials held a briefing.
On October 6, official practice for the World Drone Racing Championships took place and on the afternoon of the day of the Opening Ceremony in the main stadium. There also was the first part of the e-Drone racing competition.
Members of the city of Namwon are known to have been working hard to make sure that all the visitors to the Namwon City have the best memories possible.
Heungbu Festival and Gwanghanruwon Nighttime were also in store for all the international visitors as well as for the participants from within Korea.
“The future drone industry we dream of is not a distant future in our imagination, and we ask for your continued interest and support and support for the drone industry,” said Mayor Choi Kyung-sik of the Namwon City.
Namwon is one of the most prominent cities in Korea in terms of history and culture as well as all the modern features today.
Wikipedia account of Namwon:
Namwon is a well-known city in Korea, especially widely known in Korea for the most prominent love story of Korea between a woman of chaste, Sung Chun-hyang (literally, Spring Fragrance) and her boy-friend, Yi Mong-yong (literarily, Dreaming Dragon).
Located just outside the Jiri-san Mountain National Park, which has the largest set of mountains on the South Korean Mainland, the Namwon City borders the Seomjin River, one of South Korea's more prominent rivers.
The Namwon City is 3 hours and 15 minutes from the Seoul Central City Bus Terminal (via direct bus).
As was briefly mentioned afore, the Namwon City is called "the City of Love" because of the famous Korean love story of Chunhyang. The Gwanghallu Pavilion and Garden are two a shrine to this love story of Chunhyang.
History of the Namwon City: Namwon was founded in 680 during the reign of King Sinmun of the Silla Kingdom. Namwon county was founded on April 1, 1895. The city suffered during the Siege of Namwon in 1597 during the Imjin War (Invasion of Korea by Japanese Shogun Hideyoshi Toyotomi between 1592-1598).
Geography: Namwon is located in a basin bordered by the Sobaek Mountains to the east and the Buheung Mountain Ridges to the west with the Yocheon River flowing through the city. Namwon is bordered by the counties of Imsil and Sunchang to the west, Jangsu to the north, Hamyang and Hadong in Gyeongsangnam-do to the east, and Gurye and Gokseong in Jeollanam-do to the south.
Official flower: Cheoljuk (Royal Azalea)
City tree: Baerong Namru (Crape-myrtle)
City bird: Swallow
Festivals:
Chunhyang Festival: The Chunhyang festival, that commemorates the love, fidelity and integrity of Chunhyang, started when female Korean entertainers created a fund to have a ceremony to Honor Chunhyang in 1931, at a time when Korea was colonized by Japan. The festival is known as a festival for love through which the city of Namwon and the cultural assets of Chunhyang are promoted to the global community.
The Chunhyang festival, one of the 10 most celebrated festivals in Korea, attracts not only Korean participants but has also become popular among foreigners. Miss Chunhyang Beauty Pageant and other events make the festival memorable and fun for visitors.
The main bridge that crosses the river that runs through the middle of the city is lit up, and along the river bank there are vendors selling food and items of all kinds. The Chunhyang beauty contest can be entered by the most beautiful female residents, in Hanbok (traditional dress).
Another event is the Chunhyang parade which runs through cordoned sections of the city along the river bank, and which comprises just about the entire complement of the city's mid-grade schoolgirls (numbering probably in the low hundreds) who are dressed in full chogori and carry musical instruments of some type, and who march in a very long line. There are also other parades of men and anyone else who is not a young girl may dress up in traditional dress and join the procession. The festival lasts four days and fireworks are launched every night.
For the rest of the year when the festival is not on, there is a small theme park dedicated to Chunhyang (Namwon Tourist Complex) complete with hypothetical dwellings and surroundings that someone like Chunhyang would have had (a mock house and yard). There are other sights in the park unrelated to Chunhyang such as a fish pond where visitors are free to feed the fish and some old-fashioned swings and horseshoe-style throwing games. Outside the park, along the river bank, there are also mini paddle boats that people can rent to traverse the small river.
Baraebong Royal Azalea Festival: From the end of April to mid May, Mt.Jiri is filled with their vivid red and pink flowers. Tourists can see crimson red flowers from the peak of Barae Bong of 1,165m down to Pal Rang Chi. There is a botanical garden and a herb valley nearby Barae Bong.
Namwon Herb Festival: Namwon Herb Festival, holds at Jirisan Mt. Herb Valley every spring and autumn, showcases many herbs that grow around Jirisan Mt.
Heungbu Festival: Namwon is the setting of a Korean traditional novel named Heungbu-jeon (Story of Heungbu), and this festival is one of the most popular local events.
The Festival opens on September 9 every year in lunar calendar to celebrate the friendship and love of a man named Heungbu. Since the first festival held in 1993, it has offered various events including Heungbu theater, farm music competitions and food tasting venues prepared with gourds.
Interestingly, name of the younger brother, Hungbu means “A hard-working man who will thrive in the future” while his elder brother, Nolbu means “A man who does not work but plays all the time.”
List of participants from the Seoul Diplomatic Corps:
Nigeria: H.E. Ali M Magashi, ambassador of Nigeria
Mrs. Asma U Ali Magashi, spouse of ambassador of Nigeria
Sierra Leone: Mrs. Agnes Mbayo, acting ambassadress of Sierra Leone
Mr. Charles Mbayo, spouse of acting ambassadress of Sierra Leone
Kazakhstan: Mr. Timur Jaikov, councilor of Kazakhstan Embassy
Republic of Congo: Mr. Kabemba Muindila Jessy, councilor of Republic of Congo Embassy
Republic of Iraq: Mrs. Himdi Shatha, spouse of military attache of Republic of Iraq Embassy
Altaeemi Jameel Noor Luaibi, children of military attache of Republic of Iraq Embassy
