The Embassy of Argentina celebrated the 205th anniversary of the May Revolution of 1810, which gave birth to the Argentine Republic after three centuries of Spanish colonial rule.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the first generation of Korean immigration to Argentina. With the support of the Korean government, the Korean community in Argentina will host a number of events to mark the historic milestone.

Argentine Ambassador Jorge Roballo congratulated ethnic Koreans in Argentina for their dedication and integration in a reception at Grand Hyatt Seoul on Friday.

“The holiday marks the start of independence movement not only in Argentina, but the whole of South America. We pay tribute to those patriots who laid down their lives for a free and independent country,” Roballo said.

“Over the last 200 years, we have come a long way to achieve democracy, sovereignty and social and economic development from the darkest periods of struggle and conflict.”

Kim Hyoung-zhin, the deputy minister for planning and coordination at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a speech, “Koreans have warm feelings toward Argentina, the birthplace of soccer geniuses Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, as well as Pope Francis, revolutionary Che Guevara and actress Olivia Hussey.”

He added, “International figure skating champion Kim Yuna won her gold medal in Sochi Winter Olympic Games 2014 with the music of Argentine tango composer Astor Piazzolla.”

While noting that the name Argentina comes from the Latin word, “Argentum,” meaning silver, Kim addressed Argentina as a “shining presence” in Latin America ― a credit to the country’s contributions to the United Nations Organization, the South American Common Market (Mercosur) and South American Nations’ Union (UNASUR).

Argentina and Korea established diplomatic ties in 1962, and are expanding their cooperation in science, education, agriculture, energy and the environment. The two countries’ ministries of agriculture recently held a meeting in Seoul, and discussed importing Argentine beef, poultry and fruit to Korea.

The ambassador highlighted investment opportunities in his native country, particularly in infrastructure, renewable energy and mining. Korean steel-making company POSCO will construct a lithium-extracting plant in the northern province of Jujuy starting at the end of this year.

Argentina has rich reserves of natural resources, with the world’s third-largest deposits of lithium and shale gas. It is the world’s third-largest exporter of soy beans and the largest exporter of biodiesel.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)