Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Folding screen at receptions carries special significance
President Park Geun-hye delivers a speech during a reception hosted by the Japanese Embassy in Seoul at the Westin Chosun Seoul, Monday, to mark the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations. An old folding screen used when the two nations signed the 1965 Korea-Japan Normalization Treaty is on display at the back. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Monday’s diplomatic events in Seoul and Tokyo to celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations displayed an old, folding screen that symbolizes friendship between the two countries.
The Japanese Embassy in Seoul explained that the folding screen is a memento that was on the site of the signing of the 1965 Korea-Japan Normalization Treaty.
The Japanese Embassy found half of the screen while looking for a meaningful artefact to be displayed at the reception at the Westin Chosun in Seoul.
The remaining half of the screen has been housed at the Korean Embassy in Japan, which also displayed it during its reception there at the request of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.
The folding screen, on which Jeong Cheol’s (1536-1593) famous work “Seongsanbyeolgok” is written, was used when the two nations signed the treaty on June 22, 1965, in the then-prime minister’s residence in Tokyo.
Jeong Cheol was a minister and gifted writer and poet during the Joseon Kingdom.
On the back of the screen is written, “Memento of exchanging instruments of ratification, given by Lee Hu-rak, Jan. 26, 1970.”
Lee, former director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, which later became the National Intelligence Service, was a Korean ambassador to Japan at the time.
The screen was divided in half to be shared by the two countries in a bid to increase mutual understanding and goodwill.
During his time in office, Lee left one half at the Korean Embassy in Tokyo and sent the remaining half to Korea.
Lee Yang-soo, president of the Seorak Research Institute for Politics and Economy, told reporters: “Dividing and sharing the folding screen had a meaning that the two sides shared their hard work and many twists and turns during the process of signing the treaty as there was a lot of opposition to the move.”
The analyst noted that the Japanese side asked Seoul first to display the screen at this year’s events in a bid to overcome resentment by South Koreans over the Shinzo Abe administration’s conservative swing.
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