Chinese Ambassador to S Korea: Share dream, promote friendship

SEOUL, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Ning Fukui, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, has expressed his hope that the sacred Olympic flame, which symbolizes peace, friendship and progress, will transmit the common dream of all human beings and promote the friendship between China and South Korea.

Seoul is a city with traditional charms and modern vigor alike, and the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Seoul, which has been twinned with the Chinese capital of Beijing, will play a positive role in promoting friendship and mutual understanding between the two peoples and offer an important opportunity for South Korea to know more about China, said Ning, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Saturday.

The event will further advance cooperation and exchanges between the two countries in various areas, he added.

The South Korean people have an ardent enthusiasm for sports, and the 1988 Seoul Olympic games has been widely recognized as the most successful in history, Ning said. And most Chinese people got to know Seoul and South Korea at large.

The Olympic Games have returned to Asia again since 1988, when Seoul hosted the grand sports event. The Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games (BOCOG) hopes that more Asian countries will share the joy brought by the event, said the Chinese Ambassador.

Concerning Seoul's preparations for the relay, Ning said that the South Korean government and people support the Beijing Olympics, and also hopes to participate the event in various forms.

The central government as well as the Seoul municipality attaches great importance to the flame relay, and makes continued efforts to enhance and improve the organization and preparation for the relay in a bid to ensure the smooth progress of the event in Seoul, said Ning.

Looking forward to the upcoming Olympic torch relay, Chinese students in Korea as well as local Chinese residents and the Korean Chinese are very delighted. With their enthusiasm running high, they clamored to come to the relay route to cheer for Beijing Olympics, he said.

More than 2000 Korean Chinese and local Chinese residents will gather at Gwanghwamun, a landmark in central Seoul, to perform traditional Chinese dragon and lion dances. In a celebrating ceremony scheduled late Sunday, they will stage brilliant performances with South Korean artists, Ning said.

In addition, at least 7,000 Chinese students studying in South Korea will voluntarily come from various places of the country to Seoul, bringing with them the Five-Star Red Flags, the Olympic banners and T-shirts, to root for the torch relay, jointly witness the historic moment and share the elation, he said.

"I believe wherever the sacred flame is present Sunday, we will witness exhilarating, touching spectacles," the Chinese Ambassador said.

The Olympic torch relay in Seoul, the 17th leg of its global tour, will start on Sunday.