‘Cuter in real life’: South Korea names its twin panda ‘treasures’

South Korea got its first up-close look at its new pair of baby giant pandas Thursday at a name-revealing ceremony that doubled as an early celebration of the 100 days since their birth.

The female cubs — named Rui Bao, or “wise treasure”, and Hui Bao, “shining treasure” — were born at the Everland theme park near the capital Seoul on July 7, and have since been showered with an outpouring of excitement and affection.

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Some half a million panda lovers helped choose their names via online voting, the zoo said, with a handful of lucky fans invited to Thursday’s ceremony.

Lee Da-young, a 20-year-old university student in attendance, said it was her third visit to the zoo in two months to see the pandas.

“I’ve always liked pandas, so I came to Everland last week and also a month ago,” Lee told AFP. “But I’m honoured to have come again on such a great opportunity.

“They are even cuter in real life than they appear on screen,” she said.

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Since their birth 97 days ago, the zoo has posted videos documenting the pandas’ growth on its YouTube channel that have garnered millions of views.

“I feel healed whenever I watch their videos,” said 31-year-old office worker Jung Hyun-ye, who regularly watches the twice-weekly clips.

“I think I’m healed by their harmless expressions and relaxed manner,” she added.

The cubs, which have just begun teething and crawling, are very healthy, zookeeper Kang Chul-won told reporters.

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“We’ve never raised twins before, so we were very nervous, but I was happy seeing them grow up and I think the people watching them via social media were also happy,” he said.

They will likely be revealed to the public early next year, the zoo said in a statement.

Ai Bao and Le Bao, the twins’ parents, arrived in South Korea in 2016 as a state gift from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In July 2020, the pair gave birth to a daughter, Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in South Korea via natural breeding.

China has long deployed “panda diplomacy”, gifting the animals to various countries, often to further its foreign policy aims.

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Beijing only loans pandas to foreign zoos, which must usually return any offspring within a few years of their birth to join the country’s breeding programme.