| Hungarian Ambassador to South Korea Mozes Csoma, right, holds a photo album on Hungary's relations with the Korean Peninsula, as professor Chang Du-sik from Dankook University's Institute of Hungarian Studies looks on during a publication ceremony at the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Feb. 6. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo |
By Yi Whan-woo
A photo album published by Hungarian Ambassador to Seoul Mozes Csoma last week adds to a series of books that shows the scholar-turned-diplomat's deep understanding of the Korean Peninsula's history in relation to Hungary.
Titled "The relations of the Korean Peninsula and Hungary seen through rare photos," the 260-page album consists of photos handpicked by Csoma from the archives run by the embassy and the Hungarian News Agency among other public and private institutions.
The album was to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Hungary-South Korea diplomatic relations in 2019.
The photos date back as early as 1908, 16 years after the Korean Empire signed a Treaty of Friendship with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The episodes depicted on the photos encompass the nascent governments of the two Koreas after the 1945 liberation of the Korean Peninsula from the Japanese colonization, Hungary-North Korea friendship during the Cold War era, South Korean students' support for anti-communist Hungarian Revolution in 1956, the 1989 diplomatic treaty between the two sides and 30 years of cooperation since then.
"This album indeed is about the time during the Korean Empire to the liberation to the present South Korea," Ambassador Csoma, speaking in fluent Korean, said during a ceremony to celebrate the publication at the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Feb. 6. "For this reason, I opted for the Korean Peninsula over the Republic of Korea for the title of this album."
Also a founding member and former head of the Department of Korean Studies at the University of Budapest, Csoma said he especially spent time on finding "less well-known but outstanding pictures."
The ambassador reckoned the 30th anniversary last year "offered a great opportunity to take a thorough look at the history of the two distant nations" and that the commemorative album will be "highly interesting and informative."
The participants at the ceremony included Hungarian Cultural Institute Director Andrea Kalman and Chang Du-sik, general manager at Dankook University's Institute of Hungarian Studies.
In her congratulatory speech, Kalman assessed the album as "a precious reference to a deep bond between Hungary and the Korean Peninsula."
Chang joined Csoma for one-on-one discussion and introduced some pictures they found worth introducing to other participants.
Taken by Hungarian naval doctor Dezso Bozoky, a 1908 image shows the front view of Geunjeongjeon or the main throne hall of Gyeongbok Palace.
Another 1908 photo shows the front cover of "Korea, the land of morning calm" ― the first Hungarian book on Korea.
Its author is ethnographer Benedek Barathosi Balog, who stood for the Korean independence and was against the Japanese colonial power.
Korean traditional dancer master Kim Baek-bong, who is in her 90s, was seen with her peers when she visited Budapest in 1949 to join the Soviet Bloc's World Festival of Youth and Students.
The creator of "Hwagwanmu," a floral coronet dance, and "Buchaechum," a fan dance, Kim once defected to North Korea but returned to the South in 1951.
A series of photos were about North Korea's founding leader Kim Il-sung joining the Hungarian leaders, such as Matyas Rakosi and Andras Hegedus in 1956.
Former President Roh Tae-woo, who initiated Northern Policy aimed at opening ties with North Korea's allies in the late 1980s, was pictured at Budapest Ferihegy International Airport and the Parliament of Hungary.
In a 2002 photo, then-National Assembly Speaker Lee Man-sup (1935-2015) was seen receiving the Hungarian Cross of Merit at the Parliament of Hungary.
Lee was among the nine Yonsei University students forming Volunteer Student Soldiers for Hungarian Freedom, which asked then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-woo to send them to Hungary to fight for freedom during the 1956 uprising. The offer was denied.
All nine, including Yoo Jay-kun, a former three-term lawmaker in the 1990s and 2000s, all later received honors from the Hungarian government.