Asiad is About Friendship, Saudi Arabian Students Say.

(From Korea Times)

The best known fact about Saudi Arabia, one of the 44 countries and territories participating in the Busan Asian Games, may be that it has the world's biggest oil reserves.

Saudi Arabia boasts a confirmed total of 265 billion barrels, more than twice the 112 billion held by Iraq. With its overwhelming oil power, Saudi Arabia holds the leading role among petroleum-exporting Arab countries with its population of 22 million and over 2 million square kilometers of territory, 20 times the size of the Korean peninsula.

Currently there are less than 100 Saudi Arabians in this country, according to the Immigration Bureau of Korea. However, the trade volume between the two countries exceeds more than $10 billion, with Korea depending on Saudi Arabia for almost one quarter of its oil imports.

Among the increasing Saudi visitors to Korea are Ziad Alqasim, 20, and Mohammed Alyami, 22, who are both attending Seoul National University (SNU) on scholarships sponsored by a Saudi oil company.

Currently a sophomore majoring in business administration, Mohammed Alyami says the Islam Mosque in Hannam-dong in Seoul is about the only place in Korea which makes them free of homesickness. Both Alqasim, who studies Chemical Engineering at SNU, and Alyami go to the Mosque every Friday to meet with friends and enjoy talking in their mother language.

Alyami said, ``Many foreigners may find Seoul's traffic the worst thing, but I think the hardest part is making friends. Since Korea only came into contact with outside countries in late 19th century, Koreans are still not used to foreigners and different cultures.''