Yoon visits dad's hometown after return from New York

Politics

Published: 24 Sep. 2023, 16:55

Yoon visits dad's hometown after return from New York

President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the opening ceremony of the Great Baekje Festival held in Gongju, South Chungcheong, on Saturday. Few hours earlier he arrived from New York where he attended the UN General Assembly since Monday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

Just hours after returning from New York where he attended this year's UN General Assembly, President Yoon Suk Yeol traveled down to South Chungcheong in central Korea, the homeland of Yoon’s father, Yoon Ki-jung.

The elder Yoon, a respected economist and scholar, passed away last month.

“Even though I boarded the plane [from New York] exhausted after holding 49 diplomatic meetings during the five days, I feel invigorated as I have come to my hometown,” Yoon said at the opening ceremony of the Great Baekje Festival held in Gongju, South Chungcheong, on Saturday.

Yoon traveled to Gongju on a helicopter that was waiting at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, where Air Force One landed.

“I vividly remember visiting my uncles’ house in Bonghwang-dong across the Geum River after traveling from Seoul on a train and then taking a bus to Gongju Terminal,” Yoon said.

“The legacy of Baekje, where culture flourished, was not only the cultural development of Asia, but also the DNA of K-culture, of which the entire world has taken notice,” he said. “I hope that the Great Baekje Festival will develop into a festival that widely spreads Baekje’s culture to the world.”

The president also highlighted the government's support for the region's ongoing transformation into a center of high-tech industries.

“Long ago, starting with President Park Chung Hee turning Daedeok into a research center for the defense industry, Daedeok and South Chungcheong have been a national hub for future industries,” Yoon said.

“[The government] will provide full support for South Chungcheong’s next generation display and mobility industry,” Yoon said pointing to Samsung Display’s 4.1 trillion won (over $3 billion) investment agreement signed in April.

Yoon held bilateral talks with the leaders of nearly 50 countries in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to strengthen economic cooperation and promote Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan.
The last-ditch diplomatic efforts to drum up support for Busan's World Expo bid comes ahead of the Bureau International des Expositions' final selection of the host country by secret ballot in November. Busan is up against Italy's Rome and Saudi Arabia's Riyadh.

First lady Kim Keon Hee also took part in Expo bid diplomatic efforts and visited Coterie New York, an international fashion fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, offering encouragement to Korean designers and emphasized their role in promoting K-fashion, the presidential office said.

Yoon and Kim wrapped up their six-day trip and returned to Korea on Saturday evening.

BY LEE HO-JEONG, SARAH KIM [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]