Emine Erdoğan, the spouse of Türkiye's president and a member of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's delegation on his trip to South Korea, opened the photography exhibition “The Birth of Friendship: Korea 70 Years Ago Through the Lens of a Turkish Photographer” in Seoul together with Kim Hye-kyung, the spouse of South Korea's president. The exhibition, prepared by the Directorate of Communications of the Presidency of Türkiye, is being held at the Korean War Memorial Museum. It features photographs by renowned Turkish photographer İzzet Keribar, who went to Korea for military service in 1956 and spent about a year photographing a country just beginning to recover from the war.
Museum director Hyeon-jeong Kim welcomed the guests at the ceremony. Three Korean War veterans attended the opening, along with representatives of the Korean War Memorial Foundation, the Korea-Türkiye Friendship Association, the Korean War Veterans Association of the United Nations Allies and the Korea Muslim Federation. The family of Kim Eun-ja, the girl whom Turkish Sergeant Süleyman Dilbirliği found during the war and named Ayla, also attended; their story became the basis for the 2017 film “Ayla.”
“Our hearts are always together”
Speaking at the opening, Emine Erdoğan described each of Keribar's photographs as both a work of art and a historical record. She noted that the exhibition is being held in the year marking the 69th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Türkiye and the Republic of Korea, and recalled the more than 21,000 Turkish military personnel who fought on the Korean Peninsula. Despite the thousands of kilometers between the countries, she said, their hearts are “always united” because their friendship was forged through “real sacrifices” during one of the most difficult periods in history.
“Humanity needs stories today more than ever—stories that will once again inspire people to do good and pursue peace and remind them that they are brothers. Türkiye and South Korea wrote exactly such a story,” the spouse of Türkiye's president said.
For Keribar himself, his assignment in Korea marked the beginning of his career in documentary photography: Seoul became an important subject among his early social photographs, and during his service he also visited Japan twice, photographing Tokyo and Kyoto. The photographer personally guided the guests through the exhibition.
Photo: Directorate of Communications of the Presidency of Türkiye
