First lady Kim Hea-kyung, spouse of President Lee Jae-myung, attended a hanji (Korean paper) exhibition and fashion show in San Francisco on the 24th local time, highlighting the value of hanji as a cultural heritage. President Lee and Kim departed on the 24th Korea time for a tour of the United States, South America, and Germany.
Kim attended the event "Time and future connected by hanji," hosted by the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles at The Pearl, a cultural venue in San Francisco, on the afternoon of the day, and viewed the exhibition and hanji fashion show. Kim arrived wearing a silk dress and carrying a hanji leather bag made by a Korean youth startup corporations.
The Korea Heritage Service is working to have "traditional knowledge and techniques of hanji-making and cultural practices" inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The event was organized to promote hanji's cultural value and to introduce the present and future of hanji as it expands into various fields.
Kim said, "A single sheet of hanji holds the breath of nature, the long touch of artisans, and the records of our lives intact," and added, "I hope that in December hanji will be inscribed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity so it can shine even more as a precious common asset of humankind."