1st `Korea Night` Held in Davos

The first "Korea Night" was held Thursday night on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Federation of Korean Industries hosted the event with sponsorship from the SK Group. High-profile participants included U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Also attending were Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, federation chairman Cho Suk-rai and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

President Lee Myung-bak gave a video message that the global economic crisis can turn into a historical chance and that Korea will play a significant role to make that happen.

Han also stressed in his speech that Korea will remain an attractive market for foreigners to do business and invest.

Saxophone player Danny Jung played and Edward Kwon, senior executive sous chef of Burj Al Arab, prepared Korean food. Traditional Korean culture was displayed through the use of digital technologies.

Chey proposed holding the event at a recent meeting of the federation, saying the economic forum can be a great chance to promote Korea to the world`s leading businessmen and politicians.

"The event went better than I expected," he said. "We are also considering holding it every year."

tesomiom@donga.com