The first Vietnam- Republic of Korea (RoK) cultural exchange festival in the Jeonnam-Gwangju region has been held in the Republic of Korea’s (RoK) southern Jeollanamdo province, to strengthen links between the Vietnamese community and locals. The event’s attendees included deputy secretary of the Seoul-based Vietnamese Embassy’s Party Organisation, Nguyen Thai Hoa, representatives from the Vietnamese Association, Vietnamese and Korean families, along with nearly 600 Vietnamese students and workers living in the RoK. They joined in a wide range of activities featuring Vietnam-RoK cultures, including the re-performance of a traditional Vietnamese marriage, dance performances, a show of Vietnam’s traditional dress and folk games. Nguyen Viet Phong, member from the Vietnamese Association in the RoK who is also the Chairman of the Vietnamese Association in Jeonnam-Gwangju said the festival gives Vietnamese expatriates a good chance to help each other and share difficulties in their daily life to make a greater contribution to the homeland. The festival is part of the diverse activities of the Vietnam-Korea Exchange Festival 2013, aiming to further strengthen friendship and cooperation between the two nations. In response to a call from the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA),the Vietnamese Association in Jeonnam-Gwangju, during the festival, raised 597,000 won to help Vietnamese AO-Dioxin victims. VOV