First Lady Kim Geon-hee Meets Renowned Architect, Requests "Please Consider Collaboration with Korea"

Yoon and Bangil Have Lunch with Tadao Ando Following Visits to Japan Folk Crafts Museum and Korean School

On the second day of her visit to Japan, June 17, First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol, visited the Korean School and the Japan Folk Crafts Museum. She also had lunch with the world-renowned architect Tadao Ando.

On that day, First Lady Kim first visited the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, founded by Japanese folk craft activist Yanagi Muneyoshi. The museum houses and exhibits over 3,000 Korean works collected by Yanagi Muneyoshi, as well as crafts and folk art from Japan and various Asian countries. Touring Yanagi Muneyoshi’s living quarters, she said, "I will remember Mr. Yanagi’s spirit and support efforts for Korea and Japan to continue close exchanges through culture."

First Lady Kim Geon-hee is having lunch with world-renowned architect Tadao Ando at a restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, on the 17th, receiving an Issey Miyake outfit as a gift.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At the Tokyo Korean School, she said, "Politics has borders, but culture and education do not," and urged, "You, who symbolize exchanges between the two countries, please serve as a bridge to strengthen Korea-Japan relations." First Lady Kim encouraged the students and toured the facilities. The Tokyo Korean School, established in 1954, is a Korean school in Japan and the largest among Korean schools located in Japan.

First Lady Kim also had lunch with the world-renowned architect Tadao Ando. Kim and Ando first connected when a special session for Tadao Ando was arranged at the past French architect 'Le Corbusier Exhibition.' In January, they exchanged New Year greetings through letters.

During their meeting, First Lady Kim and Tadao Ando shared updates on their recent activities and discussed the meaning of the object "Blue Apple," Ando’s support for children’s libraries, and Ando’s upcoming solo exhibition to be held in Korea. Emphasizing exchanges between Korea and Japan, First Lady Kim requested Ando to actively consider social contribution exchanges between the two countries and collaboration with Korean architecture, including the construction of art museums in Korea.