At the K-Culture Tourism Expo at Lotte Mall West Lake in Hanoi, Kim said culture, including film, is “the warmest link that connects people beyond language and borders,” adding that such exchanges will deepen understanding and friendship between the two countries.
According to a written briefing by presidential deputy spokesperson Ahn Gwi-ryeong, the expo was organized by the Korea Tourism Organization and others to let visitors experience the K-culture wave spreading in Vietnam across areas including content such as dramas, food, beauty products, heritage and travel. The event runs from April 23 to 26.
Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi is Vietnam’s largest shopping and entertainment complex and is often described as “Korea in Vietnam” and a hub for K-lifestyle. Since opening in September 2023, it has logged more than 25 million cumulative visitors.
Wearing a hanbok, Kim toured indoor pop-up zones with actor Jung Il-woo, who appeared in the Korea-Vietnam co-produced film “I’m Going to Abandon My Mom” and is nicknamed “Vietnam’s son-in-law” locally.
Kim visited a K-content and K-food pop-up zone themed around the drama “The Tyrant’s Chef,” viewing costumes and props associated with a royal chef from the Joseon era. Guided by chef Ji Jun-hyeok, the first Korean to be listed in the Vietnam Michelin Guide in 2023, she joined a hands-on session making dishes featured in the drama.
“I'm looking forward to what new flavors might come out when Vietnamese ingredients are added,” Kim said as she made bibimbap with visitors, mixing rice with water spinach and other vegetables, gochujang and butter.
She also finished macarons using Korean black sesame and Vietnamese condensed milk, then handed them out to Vietnamese attendees.
At a traditional K-food zone, she heard explanations of persimmon leaf tea, ginseng and yakgwa, and sampled yakgwa.
After tasting fruit punch made with Korean melons and strawberries and Vietnamese mango, Kim said, “With all the delicious fruit, it’s even more balanced, and the Korean melon is especially fresh and cool.” She added that she could feel the local popularity of Korean melons, now in their second year of exports to Vietnam.
At the K-beauty zone, Kim looked over Korean cosmetics and tried products with visitors. She also visited K-heritage and K-travel zones, along with outdoor K-webtoon and K-game pop-ups.
Earlier in the day, Kim drew attention by wearing a pink ao dai.
At the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi, she met Ngo Phuong Ly, the wife of Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary, for a spouse-to-spouse cultural event.
Ly told Kim she had seen photos posted on social media and said the ao dai suited her, “like a Vietnamese girl.” Kim replied that Ly looked “even more beautiful” when she wore a hanbok last year.
With guidance from the museum director, the two viewed artifacts, models, photos and videos depicting the traditional culture and daily life of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups.
When Ly asked for explanations, Kim described spaces one by one, including a hanok’s sarangbang and an apartment kitchen. Seeing a traditional gat hat in the sarangbang, Kim noted that the “Saja Boys” wore gat hats in the Netflix animated film “K-pop Demon Hunters.”
They also watched a water puppet show, a representative Vietnamese intangible cultural heritage. At the end, puppets in an ao dai and a hanbok danced together, symbolically showing harmony between the two countries.
Ahn said the two discussed shared interests including cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, and greeted foreign tourists at the museum.
Kim said she hoped efforts to respect and share each other’s traditions — like the hanbok and ao dai — would help bring the two peoples closer.
Separately, President Lee’s social media carried thanks for the ao dai gift. The presidential office’s second annex posted on Instagram a message from Kim saying, “Madam Ly, thank you sincerely for sending such a precious gift,” adding that the “beautiful pink ao dai” conveyed Vietnam’s distinctive beauty and that she would cherish the warm sentiment.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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