Gifts Given To Heads Of State Revealed

A foreign head of state was given a Geobukseon (Turtle Ship) made of silver, his wife a mother-of-pearl jewelry box…

The government released for the first time the whole list and prices of gifts given to foreign heads of state and their wives who visited Korea after 2000.

Lee Hae-bong, a Grand National Party member and a also member of the Unification, Foreign Affairs & Trade Committee announced that according to the data from the inspection of the administration by the National Assembly, the government has given gifts during 63 visits to 92 heads of states and their wives worth 42 million won between the period of 2000 and August of 2006.

The government mostly gave a silver Geobukseon, a Gold Crown Tomb or a mother-of-pearl watch to the heads of state, while the wives were given a mother-of-pearl jewelry box, a silver-laid jewelry box or a silver-laid vase.

The cost of gifts given to the head of states was normally between 400 thousand to 800 thousand won, while the gifts to the wives were in between 200 thousand and 400 thousand won, therefore the two combined were around one million won.

The most expensive gift given was during the Kim Dae-jung government in May, 2000 when the prime minister of Australia, John Howard received a silver Geobukseon worth 810 thousand won. The cheapest gift was given in November, 2005 to U.S. President George W. Bush who received an embroidered necktie pin worth 100 thousand won at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The mother-of-pearl inlaid folding mirror that the first lady Laura Bush received at the same time, and the letter case that Russian President Vladimir Putin received were also 100 thousand won each.

myzodan@donga.com