Erbil's Zaytun library reopens following major renovation by South Korea

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Erbil Public Library, known as Zaytun Library, reopened on Monday after a major renovation in a project funded and carried out by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the South Korean development agency announced on Tuesday.

KOICA said in a statement that it is “proud to contribute to the educational development of Kurdistan,” describing the restored library as “a symbol of the enduring friendship and strong partnership between the Republic of Korea and the Kurdistan Region.”

The renovation marks the latest chapter in two decades of cooperation between the Kurdistan Region and South Korea, whose ties began after the 2003 US-led invasion and were formalized the following year.

The KRG’s foreign relations department cited Erbil Governor Omed Xoshnaw as praising KOICA and South Korean diplomatic missions for revitalizing what he called “a cultural and intellectual hub and a center of knowledge” in the city.

The agency’s resident representative Junyoung Jong described the library to Rudaw on Monday as a longstanding symbol of friendship between Korea and the Kurdistan Region. KOICA is a government agency under South Korea’s foreign ministry.

“When the KRG told us they had plans for renovation, we were more than happy to contribute,” Jong said. “I hope this place continues [operating] for the next 20 or 30 years, where Kurds and Koreans remember what we did together.”

South Korea’s Ambassador Lee Jun-il told Rudaw the library also serves as an important cultural bridge.

“This is the only place where we have a Korean cultural center,” he noted, adding that more Korean books and cultural materials will be provided. “It was much better than the university I studied in. They built a very good library.”

Located within Sami Abdulrahman Park, Zaytun Library was originally built between 2005 and 2008 by South Korea’s Zaytun military division on a 4,000 square meters land, the facility was last renovated in 2022 through the Erbil Governorate. It now houses more than 300,000 books in Kurdish and foreign languages, along with newspapers and magazines.
This year’s renovation tackled technical shortcomings.

“We renovated everything,” said Ali Ahmed, project manager for GEG Construction, the company that implemented the renovation. “The building had issues with electricity, water, sewage, and dampness. All these problems were addressed in coordination with KOICA.”

Library Director Naz Falakadin said the changes were designed to modernize the space and make it more accessible.

“We wanted it to be renovated in a modern, civilized manner,” she said. “An elevator was essential for visitors who cannot use the stairs. We also installed solar energy because we need constant electricity for digitizing books.”

After the 2003 collapse of the Baath regime in Iraq, thousands of Korean soldiers were deployed to the Kurdistan Region as part of the Zaytun Division between 2004 and 2008 to support reconstruction and the Kurdish economy in areas such as education, health, medical treatment, and capacity building.

Although no longer active, the Zaytun Division and KOICA reportedly completed the construction of more than 250 facilities, including 59 schools, 15 public health centers, the Zaytun Hospital, the Zaytun Library, the Kurdistan Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), and an e-procurement system, in addition to providing medical support for refugees and training 1,500 Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials in Korea, along with more than $60 million in in-kind assistance.

Payam Sarbast contributed to this article.