South Korean Diplomats Dancing To Indian Song Went Viral And Received Praise From Narendra Modi

Diplomats are those people appointed directly by the leaders of their nations to represent them internationally.

They're tasked to conduct diplomacy, and most importantly, represent and protect the interests of their nations in the location they've been tasked to. Sending diplomats to other countries are the oldest form of any of the foreign policy institutions of a state, predating by centuries foreign ministers and ministerial offices.

As a leader, this is why an Ambassador should be addressed like a head of state, in which he should be called "(Your/His/Her) Excellency," followed by the Ambassador's name or the country the Ambassador represented.

But that doesn't meant that their job is all work and no play.

This is shown by South Korean diplomatic envoys to India, which has received praises online.

Led by Ambassador Chang Jae-bok, he and his Embassy's diplomats and local staffs are shown dancing to "Naatu Naatu," the popular song from Telugu-language movie “RRR.”

"Naatu Naatu," which translates to "dance dance," is composed by M.M. Keeravani, with lyrics from Chandrabose.

Praised for its buoyant choreography and catchy tune, the song won India’s first ever Golden Globe in the best original song category, and is also considered the favorite to win best original song at the 95th Academy Awards on March 12.

The original song features Telugu superstars Ram Charan and N. T. Rama Rao Jr., known as Jr NTR, who dance in synchronization to the lyrics.

The Indian film industry produces tens of thousands of movies every year in multiple languages, and “RRR,” which stands for Rise Roar Revolt, is one of India's highest grossing picture, according to IMDb.

Since the song has been trending for quite a while, both online and the real world, the South Korean Embassy in India simply joined the bandwagon.

And here, in the 53-second video clip, the diplomats successfully won the hearts of the millions of Indians, when they danced at the South Korea’s embassy in India’s capital New Delhi.

it begins with two female Korean employees in kurtas perform the hook step. The action then changes to the lawns of the Embassy, where the Ambassador is joined by two other staffers as they danced to the award-winning song.

As the video progresses, two embassy employees are seen dressed like Indian actors as they don white shirts and grey trousers with suspender belts are shown dancing, before the entire embassy staff gathers in the gardens to stage a flash mob.

President Kovind accepted Chang Jae-bok's credential. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held in a virtual ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in August 18, 2021
President Kovind accepted Chang Jae-bok's credential. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held in a virtual ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in August 18, 2021. (Credit: President of India)

The idea for this dance, according to Chang Jae-bok, the South Korean Ambassador to India:

"India is a powerhouse, both in terms of hard power and soft power, but you have to remember that a country cannot have its status as a world leader without possessing soft power."

"So, people want to know more about India and they would like to visit India, looking and experiencing Indian culture like Indian tradition like Bollywood and Indian cuisines, Indian tradition dress and cricket."

"So lovely... Anybody would be tempted to try some steps !!" said Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

"Awesome!" remarked Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur.

And as the video clip went viral, it even earned a nod of approval from India’s leader.

"Lively and adorable team effort," Modi said in a tweet.

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Diplomats include lots of perks.

For example, diplomats have diplomatic passports, which grant them the greatest degree of immunity from border control inspections.

On top of that, diplomats are also granted diplomatic immunity, which means that as government officials of foreign nations, they have legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country, can benefit from safe passage and freedom of travel in a host country and accords almost total protection from local lawsuits and prosecution.

The reasons for this is because a diplomats work as representatives of their nation abroad can be daunting at times.

But this dance is not about how diplomats have fun, because for Chang Jae-bok, it's part of his work as a diplomat.

After all, the duties of Ambassadors include finding and maintaining ways to ensure the relationship between two countries, in which for Chang Jae-bok, is the relationship between South Korea and India.

By doing the dance, which has since gone viral, many praised Chang Jae-bok's initiative, which managed to a successful reinforces Seoul’s soft power diplomacy in India.