SEOUL: On Wednesday, tens of thousands of fans flocked to say goodbye to Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in South Korea. Fu Bao departed for China aboard a state-of-the-art non-vibrating vehicle that is usually used to transport semi-conductors.
Beijing has long employed “panda diplomacy” as a kind of soft power; in 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave Fu Bao’s parents, Ai and Le Bao, to South Korea.
Fu Bao, whose name translates to “treasure that brings happiness,” was born in 2020 and is well-known in South Korea thanks to her recordings, which have received 500 million views on the zoo’s YouTube account.
About 5.5 million people, or almost 10% of South Korea’s total population, are said to have visited the Everland amusement park, where Fu Bao resided, just to see her.
Everland’s Panda World saw 2.15 million visits last year, up from 1.07 million in 2020 prior to Fu Bao’s debut, mostly due to her popularity, the theme park reported.
Last year, Fu Bao received Rui Bao and Hui Bao, her younger twin sisters, whose births similarly caused a flurry of joy to break out on South Korean social media.
Beijing only lends out its pandas to international zoos; these zoos are typically required to return any progeny to Beijing’s breeding program within a few years of the animal’s birth.
Beijing and Seoul have an arrangement that allows Fu Bao’s parents to remain in South Korea until 2031, but Fu Bao’s twin sisters, like her, have to return to China before they reach four. The zoo claimed in a statement that “Fu Bao left Everland at around 11 am,” and that the panda will board a chartered plane to depart for China via Incheon International Airport.
