Invest KOREA

American University will hold a ceremony next week to open a Korean garden on its campus here to promote the university's ties with South Korea, the South Korean embassy here said Wednesday.

   South Korean Ambassador Han Duck-soo will attend the ceremony Monday to launch American University Korean Garden, which was built on 13,000 square meters of ground near the School of International Service.

   The ceremony will be held under the three cherry trees donated by former South Korean President Rhee Syngman in 1943.

   The garden has more than 500 Korean plants donated by the South Korean government, the government of Jeju Province and the Korea Forest Research institute.

   The provincial government of Jeju Island, South Korea's southern resort island, has also contributed a couple of traditional stone statues called "dolharubang."

   Neil Kerwin, president of American University, expressed his intentions to build Seoul Garden in 2009 when he visited Seoul to meet with American University alumni.

   "We hope the garden, the first of its kind to have Korean trees, flowers and other plants in the United States, will help improve South Korea's national image," the embassy said in a statement.

Source:  Yonhap News (April 20, 2011)