President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan concluded the busy first day of his visit to South Korea with an official dinner hosted in his honor by President Lee Jae-myung at the Presidential Palace in Seoul. Attending the dinner with his wife, Emine Erdoğan, Erdoğan noted that he was making his first visit to the Republic of Korea in eight years and said, "On behalf of our 80 million brothers and sisters in Türkiye, I extend my warmest greetings to the friendly and allied Korean people."
Opening his remarks by highlighting the geographical distance separating the two countries, Erdoğan said, "We are two nations at opposite ends of Asia, far apart yet close at heart. If fate is to bring people together, we are the finest example that distance cannot stand in its way." Recalling a Korean proverb, Erdoğan added, "If even the edges of your garments lightly touch each other, it is fate."
"Fate brought us together 76 years ago"
Referring to the struggle waged side by side during the Korean War, Erdoğan said, "76 years ago, fate brought us together for the independence of these lands," adding that this shared struggle had made the two nations "blood brothers," as Koreans describe Turks. Erdoğan emphasized that the relationship between the two peoples reached much further back than the Korean War, saying, "In fact, we are two ancient peoples who have been in contact with each other for more than a thousand years."
"We want to carry our shared history toward new horizons"
Erdoğan said his comprehensive talks with Lee during the day had given him great hope, adding that they wanted to carry the two peoples’ shared history toward "new horizons where we can contribute to the prosperous future of our citizens and the establishment of peace in the world." Erdoğan also thanked his hosts "for their hospitality, which made us feel at home."
The dinner was the final stop on the first day of the visit program, which began with an official ceremony in Seoul. The two leaders held one-on-one and interdelegation talks throughout the day; four agreements were signed, covering areas from nuclear power plant financing to critical minerals, and a $15 billion target for bilateral trade was reaffirmed at a joint press conference. Emine Erdoğan, meanwhile, opened an exhibition at the Korean War Memorial Museum featuring photographs of Korea taken 70 years ago by master photographer İzzet Keribar.
President Erdoğan shared footage from the first day of the visit on his social media account with the note: "We are greatly pleased that the relationship between our countries, transformed into blood brotherhood by the sacrifices of the heroic Mehmetçik for Korea’s independence 76 years ago, continues today on an exceptional and distinctive path."
Photos: AA. Videos: TRT Haber, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (X)
