Rabat – Rabat’s first Korean cultural center, the Maru Culture Center, opened last week with Korean song and dance performances.
Located in Rabat’s Youssoufia neighborhood, the center offers Moroccans a window into Korean culture and gives foreigners an introduction to Moroccan culture.
Two Korean couples, Jin Tae-sang and Chung Hyunhui and Park Seup and Park Seon-young, founded the center. The couples have a combined 32 years of experience living in Morocco.
Director Chung Hyunhui told Morocco World News, “Maru Culture Center wants to help people know people through cultural activities. To understand other cultures more, we should know their languages first.” The center offers lessons in four languages from French and Darija (Moroccan Arabic) for foreigners to Korean and English for Moroccans.
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Beyond language lessons, Chung said, the center will host “music concerts, cooking classes, and speech competitions in Korean.”
While there are several Korean culture centers around Morocco, Maru is the first of its kind in Rabat.
The name Maru, which comes from the Korean word for sky, reflects the center’s goal to be a place of “unending possibilities.”
“We want to know people more and give more opportunities for them to enhance their lives,” Chung told MWN. The center is inclusive of all age groups, and even has young children coming to learn Darija. “There is no age limit here.”
With a staff of eight Koreans and Moroccans and four volunteers, Chung said the center is looking to expand its reach with more English volunteer teachers.
Chung, Jin, and the Parks see their role as helping bridge culture gaps. “In Maru center we want to help expats merge into the Moroccan context, and on the other hand help Moroccans know more about Korea and its very rich culture.”
