Cespedes Memorial Park

Park Chul, left, former president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), poses with Bishop of the Masan Diocese Francis Xavier Ahn Myong-ok, to Park’s left, and Changwon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo, third from left, during a ceremony to open the Cespedes Memorial Park in the port city of Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Monday. Other dignitaries include Spanish Ambassador to Korea Gonzalo Ortiz, fourth from left, and Fr. Park Hong, seated in a wheelchair, a Catholic priest and former president of Sogang University. The park was dedicated to Gregorio de Cespedes, a Spanish member of the Society of Jesus who became the first European to set foot on the Korean Peninsula. He arrived in Busan in 1593, accompanying Japanese forces commanded by Konishi Yukinaga during their invasion of Korea. / Yonhap