Korea Racing Authority which strives for the industrialization of horse industry in Korea, took advantage of Diplomatic visit last Sat. (Aug. 17th afternoon) as an opportunity to publicize The Korea Cup & Korea Sprint to be held on Sep. 8th(Sun.) next month.

By the warm invitation of Chairman Kim Nak-soon from Korea Racing Authority, a total of 40 Ambassadors & Senior Diplomats visited Korea Racing Authority to hear its briefing about The Korea Cup & Korea Sprint as well as to attend the 2019 Let's Run Park Seoul Evening Racing Lucky Summer Festival.

In fact nowadays, strategic value of Korea Racing is being assessed enormously in terms of its abundant racing supply, Asia Pacific Time zone and last but not least its ever-increasing quality which are not inferior compared with advanced horse racing powers in the world like the UK, Australia, Japan and UAE, to name just a few.

In that regard, visiting Ambs. & Senior Diplomats including Honduras Amb. Virgilio Paredes Trapero & Mme., Peru Amb. Daul Jesus Enrique Matute-mejia & Mme., Tokyo-based Peru Amb. Harold Winston Forsyth Mejia & Mme. etc. expressed their great satisfactions, hearing its briefing about KRA history, facilities, touring horse swimming pool & field and last but not least its Evening Horse Racing Summer Lucky Festival at VIP rooms.+

Upon attiving at KRA headquarters lobby, PR executive Hong Yong-beom from KRA & its dedicated staffs welcomed guests on behalf of Chairman Kim Nak-soon from KRA who was not able to join it because his other urgent schedules and proceeded its welcome ceremony which included video presentation about KRA history and its strategies to attract more many tourists from home & abroad, The Korea Cup & Korea Sprint briefing and Q&A sessions etc.

Through his welcome remarks, PR executive Mr. Hong introduced that KRA greeted its 70th establishment anniversary this year as an exclusive agent to nurture horse industry in Korea, adding KRA is striving to contribute to the development of livestock by horse racing's fair implement and horse industry nurturing and most importantly, it was established to devise the welfare increasement of the people and to boost leisure activities.

Korea horse racing is taking place in Busan, Jeju horse racing park including Seoul and a total of 2,700 horse racings during about 100 days every year are being implemented, according to Hong.

Currently, horse racings which are being implemented in Korea are being televised in realtime to 10 countries such as the US, UK and Singapore etc. and Korea horse racing is taking part in globally famous horse racing competitions like the US Kentucky Derby and UAE Dubai World Cup Horse Racing competition.

KRA pr executive Hong said that he sincerely hopes through today's Diplomatic Corps' visit event to KRA, it would be served as a valuable opportunity for the esteemed members of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps. to be abel to experience Korea's horse culture, to say nothing of Korean culture.

As his return remarks on behalf of all visting Diplomatic Corps., Honduras Amb. Virgilio replied: "We Ambassadors & Senior Diplomats understand that horses are expected to nestle down deeply in our lives again, thanks to the development of the horse industry in the 21st century, contrary to the use of horses by humans can be traced back to the remote ages, farther back than we imagine". (See the full text of Honduras Amb's return speech at the end of this article!)

Through his separate interview with local journalism Newsis etc., Honduras envoy Trapero said that in Honduras horses are being popularized enough to use it as a removing vehicle in the regions still, expressing his hopes that if Korea horse racing can be televised to Honduras, he is confident that Honduras peoples will be able to definitely enjoy it to the fullest!

The field tours of KRA provided visiting Diplomatic Corps. with an another opportunity to find out more interesting venues of KRA such as horse swimming pool, horse hospital and more importantly its 2019 Let's Run Park Evening Horse Racing Lucky Summer Festival which has been taking place from July 19th through August 18th, allowed visiting Diplomatic Corps. to pave the way for the new world of horse racing at its VIP rooms while some Ambs. & Senior Diplomats were enjoying their bettings.

As regarding its betting information, KRA holds exclusive rights over the racing operations and on- and off-course wagering within Korea. This means that all activities of bookmakers or private betting operators are prohibited by the law, and only the betting tickets issued by KRA are legitimate. KRA adopted a pari-mutuel system and has been using it since the beginning of its operations in 1923, according to its PR division.

As regarding its betting system moreover, KRA provides six betting types win, place, quinella, exacta, quinella place, and trio. The minimum bet allowed is 100 Korean won, and the maximum per single bet is 100,000 Korean won. Betting tickets are distributed through the on- and off-course betting terminals, and through account betting. These terminals are controlled by Pari-Mutuel Betting Control Center at Seoul Race Park.

Korea Racing Authority(KRA) is the sole racing authority in Korea by KRA Law, and is under the supervision of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. KRA aims to contribute to the national finances through horse racing, and to promote support projects for fishing and agrarian villages as well as various social activities, with its earnings. Recently, KRA initiated its support of equestrian events as part of its efforts to expand the businesses in Korean horse industry, which had been focused on horse racing.

The following is a return speech by Honduras envoy Trapero to mark Diplomatic Corps's visit to KRA on the occasion of the 2019 Let's Run Park Seoul Evening Racing Lucky Summer Festival.. -Ed.

Honduras Amb. Virgilio Paredes Trapero's return speech on the occasion of the 2019 Lets Run Park Seoul "Evening Horse Racing Lucky Summer Festival" in Gwacheon (3:30 p.m, Aug. 17th. Saturday at the Korea Racing Authority Headquarters Lobby, Gwacheon)

First of all, I as Honduras Amb. on behalf of all visiting Ambassadors & senior diplomats from the Seoul Diplomatic Corps., would like to express our sincere thanks for chairman Kim Nak-soon from Korea Racing Authority and its dedicated staffs who organized the meaningful visit of Diplomatic Corps. to the 2019 Lets Run Park Seoul "Evening Horse Racing Lucky Summer Festival" in Gwacheon.

We understand that Korea Racing Authority's purpose which organized this significant event in partnership with The NDNnews & its affiliated organization Korea Culture Ambassador Friendship Association is to promote the imporance of Korea's Horse Industry for the Seoul Diplomatic Corps. as well as to accelerate Korea Racing system's export to promising countries in the world.

Contrary to the use of horses by humans can be traced back to the remote ages, farther back than we imagine. horses are expected to nestle down deeply in our lives again, thanks to the development of the horse industry in the 21st century. However, recent horse culture seem to be industrialized to such as Horse Racing Competitions in the world as shown in the UK, Australia, UAE and Japan to name just a few & spreading horse leisure activities etc. for the genenal public to allow them to enjoy it.

In that regard, we Ambassadors & diplomats send our full support & encouragement to KRA's mission which is committed to helping people make good use of their leisure time and to developing Korean horse industry so as to enhance the dignity of Korean horse culture and also are looking forward to expanding cooperations with countries whose Ambassadors & diplomats attend for this afternoon's Evening Horse Racing Lucky Summer Festival" in Gwacheon, Kyunggi Province.

Once again, thank you inviting us for this Evening Horse Racing Lucky Summer Festival" in Gwacheon. Thank you.