韓国とエジプトをつなぐ3人の若者

Three Young People Bridging Korea and Egypt

As Korean pop culture spreads throughout the Arab world, the younger generation in Egypt is shifting from being mere “consumers” of Korean culture to becoming its “promoters.” In this article, we introduce the journeys of three Egyptians who are bridging Korea and Egypt in the distinct fields of language, cuisine, and social media.

The first is a man who grew up in a city in northern Egypt. Although he helped his father with his clothing business from a young age, he was more interested in “language and culture” than in business. He decided to major in Korean language, got a scholarship, and went to study in Korea. After returning to Egypt, he worked as an interpreter, serving as a bridge between Arabic and Korean at important business meetings attended by Egyptian ministers and executives from Korean companies. “Translation is not just about words; it’s about conveying emotions and culture,” he says. While he acknowledges that the field of technical translation may change with the advancement of AI, he is convinced that literary translation remains a task only humans can perform.

The second person is a woman who grew up in a working-class neighborhood of Cairo, where she spent her childhood watching her mother and sisters cook in the kitchen. Her exposure to Korean dramas and music opened the door to a new world of food. “My curiosity gradually turned into deep affection and a longing for the culture,” she says. She studied Korean cuisine in earnest and opened her own Korean restaurant in Cairo. She has created a space for cultural experiences that go beyond food, not only serving dishes like kimbap, bibimbap, and tteokbokki, but also screening Korean dramas and offering hanbok (traditional Korean attire) try-ons. “I wanted to share the culture I love with the people of Cairo through food,” she says.

The third person is a woman who grew up in Aswan, a city in southern Egypt. She initially aspired to study engineering but had to change her path when her grades fell short. It was then that she encountered the newly established Korean language department. “A window to a new world opened,” she recalls. After noticing commonalities between their culture and her own environment through Korean dramas, her interest evolved into academic exploration. After graduation, she was selected as one of only 15 digital ambassadors representing Egypt in a cultural exchange program with South Korea. She also secured a scholarship to study at a Korean university. Although her study abroad experience shifted to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she participated in an international exchange program organized by the Korean Ministry of Culture. Currently, while working in education and translation, she shares information with young Egyptians interested in the Korean language through TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

Interest in Korean culture in Egypt has steadily grown, marked by milestones such as the establishment of the Korean Cultural Center in Cairo in 2014. Although the three individuals’ journeys are distinct, what they share in common is that they transformed themselves into bridges connecting cultures, all sparked by a simple feeling of “liking” something.