The Singaporean Embassy in Korea hosted a reception that shone a spot light on the growing exchange in pop culture between the two nations by featuring the hybrid Singaporean-Korean girl group, SKarf.

SKarf is the first attempt at a collaboration between a Singaporean entertainment company Alpha Entertainment and Korean K-pop powerbroker JYP Entertainment. Alpha even opened an office here in Seoul to manage the Singaporean-Korean female foursome.

“We also have a special appearance of our very own first K-pop-Singapore collaboration, which was launched in August, and it is very much something we should be proud of, because it signifies the close connection between Singapore and Korea,” said Singaporean Ambassador to Korea Peter Tan introducing SKarf during the reception at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Tuesday.

The Singaporean-Korean pop night was further accentuated by Singaporean high-school choir group Cedar Girls Choral Choir, which opened up for SKarf and performed a choral rendition of Coldplay’s 2008 hit single, “Viva La Vida.”

Korean members Jenny (Lee Joo-young), 16, and Sol (Jeong Sol), 21, and Singaporean members, Tasha (Natasha Low), 19, and Ferlyn (Ferlyn Wong), 20, collaborated with composer Eco Bridge, singer Jung Yeob and production team Honeydew’o for their first music single, “Oh! Dance.”

The girls hung around after their performance for about an hour taking photos with Singaporean high-schoolers and signing autographs.

Alpha Entertainment trained the SKarf girls ― the S stands for “Singapore” and the K for “Korea” ― for two years in the hopes of swooning teenyboppers with the group’s happy and bubbly melodies and by making music that can be “worn” comfortably by people of all walks of life, in a strenuous play on the word, “scarf,” an ardor matched only by the young performers’ dance routine.

“This performance is especially timely as we reach the year’s end and all the events that take place around the holidays,” Tan said.

“The influence of Korean culture is highly evident in Singapore with Korean pop culture, drama and food finding their way into our everyday life,” said the ambassador, noting the 23,000-strong Korean community in Singapore.

Tan also addressed the efforts of the Singaporean community in Korea, and that the “small but active” group has been a driving force in bringing Singaporean companies to Korea.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)