King Charles III welcomed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Girl Kim Keon Hee to Buckingham Palace on the night of Tuesday, Nov. 21 to have a good time 140 years of diplomatic relations.
Charles, 75, rolled out the pink carpet for the primary night time of 62-year-old Yoon’s three-day state go to to the U.Ok., welcoming as many as 170 worldwide friends. The monarch was joined by his spouse, Queen Camilla, son William, Prince of Wales, and daughter-in-law Catherine, Princess of Wales. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his spouse Akshata Murty had been additionally in attendance.
The monarch took the chance to observe talking Korean in his opening deal with to welcome the couple.
Hallyu (Ok-pop tradition) took heart stage within the festivities, with girlband BLACKPINK among the many esteemed friends. References to BTS and cult Netflix collection Squid Recreation had been scattered all through Charles’ welcome speech.
“It’s in all probability creative creativity which has led to essentially the most dramatic shift in Korea’s place within the British cultural panorama,” the King informed attendees. He later added, “Our cultures share a outstanding skill to captivate imaginations the world over, remodeling a so-called comfortable energy right into a shared superpower.”
Under are the highlights from the state banquet, which is a part of a wider journey to strengthen enterprise and commerce ties between the U.Ok. and South Korea.
Charles spoke in Korean
Addressing the President and First Girl in the beginning of his speech, Charles mentioned “Yeong-gug-e osin geos-eul hwan-yeonghabnida,” a greeting that interprets to: “Welcome to Britain.”
Charles final visited South Korea in 1992 with the late Princess Diana, however he remarked that quite a bit has modified since then, particularly within the expertise sector. His final assembly with Yoon passed off at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral reception for Heads of State and high-profile friends in Sept. On the time, Yoon was criticized for not visiting the monarch whereas her coffin was mendacity in state, however he attributed this to site visitors congestion.
Charles referenced iconic Ok-pop figures and media
It’ll come as a shock to nobody that Charles’ speech acknowledged the rising reputation of Korean tradition across the globe. He touched on Hallyu! The Korean Wave, an exhibition that passed off in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum throughout 2022 and 2023, noting that the Korean language is among the many quickest rising language programs at British universities.
“Korea has matched Danny Boyle with Bong Joon-ho, James Bond with Squid Recreation, and the Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ with BTS’ ‘Dynamite,’” he mentioned.
South Korean movie director Bong Joon-ho has achieved crucial acclaim through the years, incomes three Academy Awards for the 2019 movie Parasite. The movie additionally received finest worldwide function, a prize that’s credited to South Korea.
Squid Recreation, one other common cultural export, was considered throughout 142 million households after its Netflix launch in Sept. 2021.
Charles additionally acknowledged international music sensation BTS, who had been lauded by Seoul’s tourism board in 2018 for attracting guests to South Korea.
Charles applauds BLACKPINK’s environmentalism
Ok-pop lady band BLACKPINK had been amongst friends on the banquet after they obtained a shout out by Charles. The monarch touched on the position South Korea is enjoying within the international battle towards environmental harm. He famous that the Republic has a “agency dedication” to renewable and carbon-free applied sciences, consistent with U.Ok. industrial and coverage experience.
“It’s particularly inspiring to see Korea’s youthful technology embrace the trigger,” Charles mentioned. “I applaud Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé, higher identified collectively as BLACKPINK, for his or her position in bringing the message of environmental sustainability to a world viewers as Ambassadors for the U.Ok.’s Presidency of COP 26, and later as advocates for the U.N. Sustainable Improvement Objectives.”
He added that he admired the group’s skill to prioritize local weather motion alongside being “international superstars.” In July, BLACKPINK grew to become the primary Korean band to headline a British music pageant after they carried out at BST Hyde Park, an achievement they replicated at Coachella, after they had been the primary Asian and all-female band to headline.
Charles made a Gangnam Model Joke
Reaching again to 2012, Charles joked in regards to the music “Gangnam Model” by Psy, which topped the music charts in additional than 30 international locations worldwide. “Sadly, after I was in Seoul all these years in the past, I’m not positive I developed a lot of what could be referred to as the Gangnam Model!” he mentioned, reflecting on his final go to.
A tribute to poet Yun Dong-ju was made
Charles famous that his late mom was struck by the heat and great thing about South Korea throughout her 1999 go to. “Korea’s preservation of its sense of self, amid bewildering change, was maybe what the poet Yun Dong-ju, who so tragically died in captivity on the very eve of Korea’s liberation, anticipated when he wrote: ‘Whereas the wind retains blowing, My ft stand upon a rock. Whereas the river retains flowing, My ft stand upon a hill.’”
The quote hails from The Wind Blows, by one in all Korea’s most beloved poets who was identified for his lyric poetry and resistance poems. Yun’s writings mirrored on society and finally led to imprisonment on costs of independence motion. He died in jail aged 27, abandoning a set of 100 poems.