Kite experts from South Korea unfurl their expertise in Nepali skies and share their passion about kites

Kathmandu

Apart from K-Pop and dramas that are popular here, Nepalis and South Koreans share one more bond — kites and kite flying. And South Korean kite expert Oh Jae Hwan was in Kathmandu for a kite flying programme organised by the South Korean Embassy with Kathmandu University (KU). Oh led a delegation from November 6-8 with three other kite experts to participate in the kite flying festival.

Kite flying, one of the oldest games/sports in the world, is a popular tradition in South Korea. However, unlike other sports, it has not yet developed as a professional game. The majority still take kite flying as entertainment; very few people survive through this sport.

Oh opines, “To be an expert, one must have passion and practice very hard — there is no other option.” One of the renowned kite experts of S Korea, Oh makes kites and also provides training on how to fly them.

Art kites

Art kites are “art”.

“We take a special place, area and things, and try to symbolise those in the kite. We try to resemble it like art. This year we made the Gangnam-style kite from the popular song,” says Oh. “We make art kites, for instance taking the ocean’s size, or the size and colour of a fish, or make an art kite resembling a mountain.”

And flying an art kite is also a different process. “The art kite is flown by two-three people because it is bound by two-three threads.”

Labour of love

Kite making is a labour of love for them as he says, “We make our kites with our hands. We don’t have factories to produce kites.”

As an instructor who provides training on flying kites, Oh says, “To perfect one’s kite flying skills one needs three-six months of training”, which he provides.

Just like the kites that rule the skies, Oh feels, “I think kite development does not have any limitation but it is one of the most difficult tasks in the world. I have delivered some special lectures in South Korean universities on kites, but we do not have a course in the university. We do not have any department on the subject of kites. But in north America, kites are taken as important, especially sports kites. I think this should be developed in theory too.”

And as one looks up at the autumn sky dotted with a couple of kites, Kang’s words linger: "Our kite fliers have slogan too — 'One Sky, One World'."