Ly Xuong Can, a descendant of King Ly Thai To – the first king of the Ly dynasty (1010-1225), has been appointed Vietnam’s tourism ambassador to the Republic of Korea (RoK) for 2017-2020 by the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 

Ly Xuong Can (Source: thethaovanhoa.vn)

The ministry said on November 22 that Ly Xuong Can whose Korean name is Lee Cheng Kun was born in 1958 in Seoul. He is the 31st generation descendant of King Ly Thai To and the 26th generation descendant of Prince Ly Long Tuong, who immigrated to the RoK in the 13th century. 

In 1994, Ly Xuong Can represented the Ly Hoa Son clan in the RoK to return to Vietnam and visited his hometown in Dinh Bang ward, Tu Son town, the northern province of Bac Ninh. Six years later, he and his family received the Vietnamese citizenship. He has become member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee since September 2014.

Ly Xuong Can has expressed his wish to contribute to the development of Vietnam as well as the Vietnam-RoK friendship, while turning Vietnam into a well-known tourist destination in the world. 

Earlier, the ministry appointed world-famous chef Bobby Chinn as Vietnam’s tourism ambassador to Europe from July 2014 to July 2017 and Anoa Suzanne Dussol Perran, a French national of Vietnamese origin, as Vietnamese tourism ambassador to France for 2015-2018.-VNA