A PERFORMANCE titled "in Search of the Origin of the Korean Wave", consisting of  10 traditional Korean dances, will be performed by the Gyeonggido Korean Dance Company tonight at Chaktomuk Theatre.

The professional dance company was established in 1993 and aims to preserve as well as develop the traditional dances and regional cultures of Korea and promote them overseas, a South Korean embassy official said.

"We hope this performance will show the Cambodian people how the Korean people dance and also what they enjoy [watching]," the official said.

The performance is organised by the Korean embassy and Cambodia Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.

The Korean embassy hopes that cultural exchanges like this evening's will lead to a better understanding between Cambodians and Koreans, who make up the largest percentage of foreign visitors to the Kingdom.

South Korea has also emerged as Cambodia's largest foreign investor.

"These cultural events can provide a good opportunity to enhance mutual understanding between Korean people and Cambodian people," said South Korea's ambassador to Cambodia, Shin Hyun-suk.

"The Gyeonggido Korean Dance Company has conducted more than 1,000 performances in Korea and overseas," he added.

"On this occasion they will show the Cambodian people a variety of Korean traditional dances. Those dances expresses the Korean people's emotions such a joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure in their everyday lives," he said.

Past success

The Korean embassy has previously had great success with showing Korean movies to Cambodian students, Shin said.

"Young Cambodians really want to see the [Korean movies]. We haven't got enough seats, but we allow people to enter anyway because they enjoy standing and watching a Korean movie," he said, adding that he hoped that the dance performance would be equally successful.

Uk Socheat, a secretary of state at the  Ministry of Culture of Fine Arts, which is co-sponsoring the performance, could not be reached for a comment.