Six relatives of former presidents and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo Gyoon (left in second row) on July 29 take a group photo at the main building of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. Clockwise from left in the back row are Minister Park; Park Ji-man, CEO of the chemical manufacturer EG Corp.; Roh Jae-heon, director of the East Asia Culture Center; Kim Hong-eop, chairman of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center; Yun Sang-koo, CEO of the architectural materials trading and engineering company Dongsuh Corp.; Cho Hye-ja, daughter-in-law of the country’s first leader Syngman Rhee; and Kim Hyun-chul, director of the Kim Young-sam Memorial Foundation.
By Yoo Yeon Gyeong
Photos = Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on July 30 said six relatives of former presidents attended the day before the exhibition “Stories of Our Presidents: The Presidents Were Here” at Cheong Wa Dae, an event marking the first anniversary of the former presidential compound’s opening to the public.
Invited to the event by Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo Gyoon, the six were Cho Hye-ja, daughter-in-law of the nation’s first leader Syngman Rhee; Yun Sang-koo, son of former President Yun Bo-seon and CEO of the architectural materials trading and engineering company Dongsuh Corp.; Park Ji-man, son of former President Park Chung-hee, brother of former President Park Geun-hye and CEO of chemical manufacturer EG Corp.; Roh Jae-heon, director of the East Asia Culture Center and son of former President Roh Tae-woo; Kim Hyun-chul, son of former President Kim Young-sam and director of the Kim Young-sam Memorial Foundation; and Kim Hong-eop, son of former President Kim Dae-jung and chairman of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center.
“This meeting is the first of its kind in our political history,” the six family members said in a statement. “We will strive to make this an opportunity to spread and boost a presidential culture of unity and positivity.”
Minister Park said, “This meeting is for the descendants of presidents’ families to overcome conflict and confrontation during our nation’s dynamic modern history through historical reconciliation and commit to creating a future image of new unity and progress for the Republic of Korea.”
Six relatives of former presidents on July 29 look around at the exhibition “Stories of Our Presidents: The Presidents Were Here” at the main building of Cheong Wa Dae. From left are Park Ji-man, CEO of the chemical manufacturer EG Corp.; Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo Gyoon; Kim Hyun-chul, director of the Kim Young-sam Memorial Foundation; Roh Jae-heon, director of the East Asia Culture Center; Cho Hye-ja, daughter-in-law of the nation’s first leader Syngman Rhee; and Kim Hong-eop, chairman of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center.
They looked around the exhibition and made comments like “These symbolic items and photos convey in a friendly manner the history of leadership that unfolded at Cheong Wa Dae” and “A turning point has appeared to change the culture of presidential history in a new and healthy way.”
“The exhibition’s decoration is centered on items symbolizing the lives and lifestyles of former presidents,” Minister Park said. “Its intent is to faithfully reflect President Yoon Suk Yeol’s ideas and thoughts in reaching out to the public in an easy and interesting way and spreading the imagination of history.”
Since opening on June 1, the exhibition has attracted 230,000 visitors. It ends on Aug. 28.
dusrud21@korea.kr
