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A promotional poster for the exhibition “Gifts and Records: 140 Years of Korea-France Friendship” / Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Korea Heritage Service opened a joint special exhibition Tuesday commemorating the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, showcasing historic gifts exchanged between the two countries’ leaders spanning nearly a century and a half.
The exhibition, titled “Gifts and Records: 140 Years of Korea-France Friendship,” runs through Aug. 2 at the National Palace Museum of Korea in central Seoul, then moves to the Presidential Archives in Sejong from Aug. 14 to Sept. 13.
The Presidential Archives is an institution under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety that preserves official records of Korea’s heads of state.
An opening ceremony was held Tuesday at the National Palace Museum, with remarks from Kim Min-jae, vice minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Huh Min, administrator of the Korea Heritage Service, followed by congratulatory remarks from French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Bertoux.
The exhibition is organized across five sections tracing the arc of bilateral relations from their earliest roots.
The first section centers on a 19th-century encounter between French diplomats and 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty officials, highlighted by an earthenware wine vessel — an onggi jug — exchanged as a token of goodwill, along with the first modern Korean-French dictionary, compiled by missionaries of the Paris Foreign Missions Society.
Subsequent sections cover the 1886 Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Joseon and France — the formal start of diplomatic ties — as well as gifts exchanged between King Gojong and French President Sadi Carnot, Korean solidarity with France during the Japanese colonial period and modern diplomatic exchange between the two republics.
Items on display include a painted white porcelain vase given by Carnot to Emperor Gojong and Gojong’s celadon bowl presented in return, along with silver tableware, ceramics, lacquerware and letters exchanged by contemporary heads of state. Artifacts held in France were made available for the exhibition with the cooperation of the French Embassy in Seoul.
Additional details are available through the National Palace Museum of Korea’s official channels.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
