President Lee envisions cultural powerhouse to 'show Korea to the world'

President Lee Jae Myung invited some of the biggest names in dramas, classical music and ballet among others and discussed his vision of a cultural powerhouse, inspired by the Netflix hit "When Life Gives You Tangerines."

President Lee Jae Myung, fourth from left, speaks during a meeting with leading cultural figures at the Pine Grass reception hall in front of the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on June 30. Attendees included Tony award-winning musical writer Hue Park, soprano Sumi Jo, ballerino Park Youn-jae and director Kim Won-suk. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Lee Jae Myung may have shed a few tear or two when he watched the hit Netflix series "When Life Gives You Tangerines," which he said Monday inspired him to envision Korea as a cultural powerhouse as he met with the country's biggest names in dramas, musical, movies, classical dance and music.

Lee met with the cultural leaders and icons, including Tony award-winning musical writer Hue Park and Kim Won-suk, director of "When Life Gives You Tangerines," at the Pine Grass garden house in front of the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on Monday afternoon.

"If we grow the cultural industry, wouldn't it be a powerful force that will lead us to become a world-leading country?" Lee said.

Park wrote the book and lyrics for the Korean original musical "Maybe Happy Ending," which recently clinched six Tony awards, including Best Musical. Park became the first Korean artist to win a Tony Award.

Other attendees included world-renowned soprano Sumi Jo, recipient of France's Commandeur of the Order of Arts and Letters, teenage ballerino Park Youn-jae, the first Korean male dancer to win the Prix de Lausanne, and Heo Ga-young, director of the short film "First Summer," which won first prize in the La Cinef section of this year's Cannes Film Festival. Heo was the first Korean to earn the prize in the category.

Lee's meeting with the current K-culture trendsetters was an opportunity for him stress the importance of their role in Korea's advancement to the global market.

Lee said that in between campaigning and worrying people's livelihoods, he shed tears while binge-watching "When Life Gives You Tangerines," a slice-of-life series set on Jeju Island starring actors IU and Park Bo-gum, depicting generational divides and surviving in a patriarchal society.

"I thought that if we grow the drama industry, it would be an opportunity to show Korea to the world," Lee said, saying the series helped him realize the "potential" of Korea's culture sector.

Lee said he sympathized with the "conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and a patriarchal culture," acknowledging the strife felt by female characters in a male-dominated society.

"I wondered if people around the world would sympathize with it," he said, "but I heard that it was well-received in South America and Europe, so I thought it really had great potential."

He said it gave him food for thought on how to "enjoy high culture, create jobs and strengthen the national power of the Republic of Korea," stressing the "potential" of the message sent through the K-drama series.

"I thought that the cultural capacity of Korea is not limited to K-pop, but that there may be new sectors," Lee said.

First lady Kim Hea Kyung also attended the event and shared that she also shed tears while watching the series with her husband.

When asked at what point the president shed tears, Kim said, "I think he was thinking of our modern-day mothers and sisters while watching the main character, Ae-sun," referring to actor IU's role, especially Lee's late sister, who was nicknamed Ae-ja.

President Lee Jae Myung, center, and first lady Kim Hea Kyung speak with Kim Won-suk, director of Netflix series “When Life Gives You Tangerines,” at the Pine Grass reception hall in front of the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on June 30. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

Director Kim, in turn, noted that he was the only one among the five invited guests who has yet to receive an award, and said, "I think the tears shed by the president and his wife are the award."

Kim said that when he first tried to tell a story of a couple living in Korea, while covering a period of some 65 years from the 1960s to 2025, he received a lot of criticism from people expecting “big, life-altering events from Korean history to take center stage.”

But he later said those who watched the whole series told him that they “got it.”

“At its core, we wanted to tell a story about people,” Kim said. “I’m not sure if I should bring this up here, but during the presidential election, many candidates mentioned our drama. To me, that meant we had made something meaningful — because people from very different political views were all saying, ‘this drama really moved me.’”

The president shared his hopes for Korea to become a cultural powerhouse.

"If we significantly increase investment and support in the cultural sector as a national policy, provide opportunities for our younger generations, develop this as an industry and advance into the world to increase the cultural influence of the Republic of Korea, wouldn't we be able to become a world-class powerhouse and a leading country?" Lee said.

“If I dream of performing a Korean story abroad, I would need to be able to interact and collaborate with local writers, directors and actors," Park said during the event. "I really hope our government would support that kind of international exchange.”

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]