ABSTRACT
After the advent of Buddhism in the Korean peninsula, cultural contacts between the two distant lands, Korea and India, were nurtured by Buddhist monks. Seeking to promote awareness about Indian culture among Korean scholars, the Tagore Society of Korea has published six volumes, entitled Korean-Indian Culture, which carry articles by Korean and Indian scholars on themes that promote understanding between the two different cultural identities. The first Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) was signed between India and Korea for the year 1979-80. In February 1999, a weeklong festival of Korean cultural events was organized to coincide with the India Engineering Trade Fair '99 in which Korea was the partner country. A Korean Cultural and Information Centre has been functioning in Kolkata since 2002 and an Indo-Korean Cultural and Information Centre has been running very successfully in Chennai since 2006. Korean Buddhist organizations have taken up overseas social work in nine countries, including India and Nepal.
