Emine Erdoğan, who is in Seoul as part of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to South Korea, attended the opening of “The Birth of a Friendship: Korea 70 Years Ago Through the Lens of a Turkish Photographer,” an exhibition prepared by the Presidential Communications Directorate. Emine Erdoğan was welcomed at the Korean War Memorial Museum by Museum Director Hyun-Jong Kim and was accompanied by Kim Hea-kyung, wife of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. The exhibition features photographs taken by master photographer İzzet Keribar in Korea in 1956, where he had gone for military service.
The program began with a Korean music performance and was attended by three Korean War veterans, the family of Kim Eunja, whose story inspired the film “Ayla,” AA Chairman of the Board and Director General Serdar Karagöz, and TRT Director General Mehmet Zahid Sobacı. Representatives of the Korean War Memorial Foundation, the Korea-Türkiye Friendship Association, the UN Association of Korean War Allies, the Korea UN Association and the Korean Muslim Federation were also present at the opening.
“The photographs are also witnesses to history”
Speaking at the opening, Emine Erdoğan said that each photograph Keribar took years ago while doing his military service in Korea was “not only of artistic value but also a witness to history.” Saying, “I find it highly valuable that such a meaningful exhibition has been organized in the 69th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Türkiye and the Republic of Korea,” Emine Erdoğan also commemorated the more than 21,000 Turkish soldiers who served in the Korean War.
Emine Erdoğan said, “Despite the thousands of kilometers between our countries, our hearts have always been one and together,” and emphasized that the friendship between the two countries was built through a struggle carried out “with real sacrifices and shoulder to shoulder during a very difficult period in history.” Emine Erdoğan said, “We need stories more than ever that will inspire humanity with goodness and peace once again and remind people that they are brothers and sisters. As Türkiye and South Korea, we have written such a story.”
Seoul in Keribar’s first documentary photographs
İzzet Keribar, who began his career by photographing Istanbul in the 1950s, developed his technique through the photographs he took during the year he spent in Korea for military service. Seoul holds an important place in the artist’s first social documentary photographs; while in Korea, Keribar also photographed Tokyo and Kyoto during an assignment in Japan. Keribar personally guided guests through the exhibition at the opening, and his works had previously reached a wide audience through the “Journey of Colors” exhibition at Istanbul Modern in 2024.
The family of Kim Eunja, who attended the program, added special meaning to the exhibition. The story of Kim Eunja, whom Turkish noncommissioned officer Süleyman Dilbirliği found during the Korean War and named Ayla, was brought to the screen in 2017 under the title “Ayla.” The program ended with a group photograph.
Photographs: Presidential Communications Directorate, AA
