Meet Korean minister who learned yoga in Delhi 30 yrs ago

South Korea's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Enna Park counts New Delhi as her "second home town," where she began her diplomatic career thirty years ago and picked up yoga, which, she says, still keeps her fit.

Park, also the Ambassador for Public Diplomacy of the Republic of Korea, said, yoga is becoming "very popular" in her country.

"I started doing yoga from the time I had served as a third secretary at the Korean embassy in Delhi 30 years ago. Life was much easy and simpler back then. Now, it is much hectic," she said.

Park, in her mid-50s now, shared her views on the occasion of the International Day of Yoga, which was observed across the world today.

"India and Korea have historic ties, from ancient past to Buddhism. And, yoga, one of the cultural heritage of India, is becoming very popular in Korea. Recently, in Seoul, a session was organised by the Indian Embassy at a public place in which nearly 1,000 people participated," she said.

Park arrived in Delhi ahead of South Korean President Moon Jae-in's slated visit to India early next month. She delivered a keynote address yesterday at a seminar on 'Development of Peace and Prosperity for the Korea India Strategic Partnership' here.

"Yoga is very important part of my life. I do it every day, every morning as it helps me. I have a very busy schedule and sometimes it becomes too heavy to carry on. So, every morning I practice to get energy," Park told PTI.

During her address at the seminar, she also made a reference to the legendary Queen Suriratna, also known as Hur Hwang-ok, a princess from Ayodhya, who is said to have travelled to Korea to marry King Kim Suro in 48 AD.

"Delhi is my second home town as I started my diplomatic career here as the third secretary at the embassy," she said.

Dehradun's famed Forest Research Institute (FRI) hosted the main Yoga Day celebrations in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed yoga with over 50,000 enthusiasts in the sprawling campus of the FRI and said the ancient Indian discipline has emerged as a "powerful unifying" force in a strife-torn world.