Seoul exhibition showcases Keribar’s photographs of Korea from 70 years ago
SEOUL
İzzet Keribar poses with Emine Erdoğan (L) and Kim Hea Kyung, wife of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, at the opening ceremony in Seoul.
An exhibition featuring photographs taken by Turkish photographer İzzet Keribar in South Korea 70 years ago has opened in Seoul, highlighting the historical ties and enduring friendship between the two countries.
Titled “The Birth of a Friendship: Korea 70 Years Ago Through the Lens of a Turkish Photographer,” the exhibition was inaugurated at the Korean War Memorial Museum with the participation of Türkiye’s first lady Emine Erdoğan and Kim Hea Kyung, wife of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
Organized by Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications, the exhibition brings together photographs Keribar took after arriving in South Korea in 1956 to complete his military service.
Speaking at the opening, Kim Hea Kyung said she fondly remembered the hospitality and warmth shown to her by Emine Erdoğan during her visit to Ankara last year. She said she was pleased to welcome her to Seoul and continue strengthening the friendship between the two nations.
Recalling that Keribar was only 20 when he began photographing Korean people in 1956, Kim thanked the artist for documenting and carefully preserving these historical images for seven decades.
She highlighted a photograph showing Turkish soldiers reaching out from a train window toward a young Korean boy extending his hand to them. Although it is unclear whether their hands ever met, she said, the excitement and affection captured in the moment had survived the passage of time.
Kim also recalled images of young girls playing jump rope and boys praying together around a table. She said the children depicted in the photographs had grown up without forgetting the Turkish soldiers who stood by them during one of the most difficult periods in their country’s history.
She added that the sacrifices made by Turkish soldiers during the Korean War remained vivid in the memories of the Korean people. Kim also recalled the solidarity shown by South Koreans following the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye on Feb. 6, 2023, describing the relationship between the two nations as a bond of brotherhood rooted in shared history and mutual support.
Keribar described the opening as one of the most meaningful and emotional days of his life, recalling his arrival in South Korea in 1956 as a 20-year-old reserve officer serving with the Turkish Army’s 7th Brigade.
Assigned as an interpreter, he spent a year in the country, photographing not only military life but also ordinary Koreans, villages, children in the streets and people’s efforts to rebuild their lives after the war.
Although the Korean War had ended in 1953, its devastation was still visible when he arrived, with destroyed cities and people struggling under difficult conditions.
Keribar paid tribute to Turkish soldiers who lost their lives fighting for Korea’s freedom and independence, as well as South Korean soldiers and civilians who endured the hardships of war.
He said the joint struggle of Turkish and Korean soldiers had created more than military solidarity, establishing a lasting bond of brotherhood between the two nations.
Reflecting on South Korea’s transformation from a war-torn country into one of the world’s most developed nations, Keribar praised the Korean people’s determination, hard work and dedication.
He said that although 70 years had passed and both Korea and the world had changed, the friendship between the Turkish and Korean peoples and the memories preserved in his photographs remained unchanged.
Describing the images as historical documents bearing witness to the shared past of two friendly nations, human solidarity and the value of peace, Keribar thanked the institutions and individuals who made the exhibition possible.
He concluded his speech by expressing his hope that the friendship and brotherhood between the two countries would continue forever, saying: “Long live Türkiye-Korea friendship.”