President Lee Jae-myung, in New York to attend the 81st U.N. General Assembly, visited Manhattan's Koreatown with First Lady Kim Hye-kyung on Sept. 21 (local time). Accompanied by Ambassador to the U.N. Cha Ji-hoon, he walked along 32nd Street, lined with Korean-language signs, and toured K-beauty and K-food shops, then had dinner at a Korean restaurant, where they ate dolsot bibimbap and kimchi stew. When compatriots and tourists they met on the street greeted them with "Thank you for your hard work," the president and first lady waved and posed for photos.
President Lee Jae-myung, who came to New York to attend the 81st U.N. General Assembly, visited Manhattan's Koreatown with First Lady Kim Hye-kyung on Sept. 21 (local time). The visit was on his schedule right after he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport that day, and Ambassador to the U.N. Cha Ji-hoon accompanied him.
The president and first lady walked along 32nd Street, lined with Korean-language signs, and looked around K-beauty stores and Korean grocery and food shops. The presidential office said it took note of how Koreatown is no longer a neighborhood visited only by Koreans, as it once was, but has become a destination for New Yorkers and foreign tourists alike.
Waving back at greetings of "Thank you for your hard work"
Compatriots who recognized the president and first lady on the street greeted them with "Thank you for your hard work," and some residents and tourists even shouted "South Korea president." The couple waved in response and took photos with them. They also posed for photos with children who had come out with their parents.
They had dinner at The Bigger House, a Korean restaurant in Koreatown. Dolsot bibimbap, kimchi stew and braised butterfish were among the dishes served. There, the president and first lady met a Korean international student studying at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and heard that the school had added a Korean cuisine program. The president said he felt how much the standing of Korean food and K-culture has risen, and said he hopes life for compatriots will improve as well.
West 32nd Street in Manhattan, home to Koreatown, is a familiar street to Koreans in New York and New Jersey, but in recent years the number of non-Korean customers visiting its Korean restaurants, cafes and cosmetics stores has grown significantly. It is rare for a South Korean president to visit Koreatown in person during the U.N. General Assembly, and the visit became a talking point among local merchants.
President Lee delivered the keynote address at the 81st U.N. General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on the afternoon of the next day, the 22nd. After completing the Korea-U.S. business leaders' investment summit on the 23rd, he will depart for a state visit to Mexico. The trip runs through the 27th.