Embassies open doors to public tours in Seoul Open Week

The embassies of Oman and the United Kingdom opened their embassy doors for public tours on Thursday, as part of Seoul City’s “Seoul Open Week.”

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon will open his residence to the public for the first time during Seoul Open Week, and the festival was peppered with an array of cultural events in the capital.

Omani Ambassador to Korea Mohamed Salim Alharthy said it was a very good opportunity to introduce its brand-new embassy building to the public and give them a glimpse of Omani culture, traditions and architecture.

The faade of the Omani embassy building resembles a traditional Omani castle, and the ambassador was on hand to guide participants on the tour. Opened in May, the new embassy was designed by David-Pierre Jalicon, a French architect based in Seoul.

“It is a good initiative from the Seoul Metropolitan Government for cultural exchange,” Altharthy said, adding he hopes that when people come to the embassy they can get a glimpse of Oman’s traditions and culture.

“It is like they are really visiting Oman,” he said.

“The embassy building resembles an Arab castle. We displayed items in the reception hall ― arts and crafts. People will feel like being in an Arabic or Omani home,” the ambassador said.

Great Britain’s embassy was built in 1992, and Princess Diana came to Korea to inaugurate the facility at that time.

British diplomatic relations with Korea, however, span over a hundred years. The ambassador’s official residence was built in 1890.

British diplomat Michael Watters related a story about a second structure, the British diplomatic mission’s “House No. 2,” which was built two years after the ambassador’s residence.

George Blake, a notorious British spy who relayed secrets to the former Soviet Union, compromising the identities of hundreds of agents, stayed there.

By Philip Iglauer (ephillip2011@heraldcorp.com)