First lady Kim, Canadian PM's wife celebrate hanbok's beauty

First lady Kim Hea Kyung, right, shakes hands with Diana Fox Carney, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, during a hanbok fashion show on Wednesday, in the southeastern city of Gyeongju, in this photo provided by the presidential office. Yonhap

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — First lady Kim Hea Kyung and Diana Fox Carney, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, on Wednesday attended a fashion show featuring the Korean traditional costume, the presidential office said.

The hanbok fashion show took place in front of a scenic bridge in Gyeongju to mark the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled to run from Friday in the southeastern city.

"(They) held a conversation over the beauty and the meaning of various hanbok," deputy presidential spokesperson Jeon Eun-soo said. "Kim also expressed gratitude toward the public and people in the hanbok industry who are helping promote the beauty of hanbok globally."

The event featured other elements of traditional Korean culture, such as housing, food and the letter system, and showcased an array of hanbok, ranging from those commemorating the APEC gathering to those incorporating artificial intelligence technology.