Newton-John visits lover's hometown

"I made haste with my performance in Korea in order to help realize my boyfriend, Patrick's, wish. Patrick is searching for his Korean mother, whom he parted from when he was 2 years old."

Olivia Newton-John, 52, queen of pop in the 1970s, was sitting side by side with her boyfriend, Patrick McDermott, nine years her junior, during a press conference at the Australian Embassy in the Kyobo Building in Seoul on Monday. The two lovers exchanged sweet words and looks with each other throughout the press conference.

An organizer of Newton-John's concert in Korea said that she had met Patrick, who worked as a lighting designer for the shooting of her commercial film for a special product of Australia four years ago, and that they have lived together for two years. The two are living separately these days because of their busy schedules, he said.

Patrick, who turns 44 on September 18, was adopted by an American family at the age of 2. He name was Kim Chong-Nam, according to his card for adoption at the Holt Children's Welfare Foundation.

He says he believes his mother was a Korean and his father was an American. His only memory about Korea is that he drew a wooden car with a rope, he said, expressing worry that he had no special features in his body such as birthmarks or moles.

Newton-John, who visited her boyfriend`s hometown for the first time, had lunch at an ordinary Korean restaurant. She said she ate doenjang chigae (soybean paste soup) and that the taste of pepper was special.

She was scheduled to perform at a concert at the 88 Lawn Yard in the Seoul Olympic Park at 8 p.m. Tuesday.