Prince Frederik and Princess Mary's Official Visit to South Korea: May 10-15, 2012


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Nice Pictures , Princess Mary Looks Simple Nice & Prince Frederik Looks Nice Too , Thank you dazzling
 
Summary of a number of articles in Billed Bladet #20, 2012.
Written by our Korea correspondent Anna Johannesen.

This covers the first couple of days as BB due to a bank holiday is out today this week.

It was the Korean PM, Kim Hwang-sik, who hosted a reception for M&F, members of the Danish government and the trade delagtion. This took place in a green and tranquil garden in the middle of Seoul. Seoul is famous for it's mix of modern buildings and traditional gardens and temples dotted here end there.
As you know Mary wore parts of the ruby parue and she was dressed in a shortened dress by Elise Gug. Two ruby jewels had been modified to resemble maple leaves and been placed in Mary's hair.
It all started in the garden with juice being served, no alcohol, no liqour.
Then it was inside for a delicious menu. Mary was seated at a round table between the PM and the vice minister, Kin Jae-Shin.
Almost inevitable Mrs. Sohn's, the wife of Minister for Commerce, phone rang during PM Kim Hwang-sik's welcoming speech.
M&F were throughout the visit accompanied by the Danish ambassador, Peter Lysholt Hansen and his attractive looking Vietnamese wife, Ha Thi Bich Lien.

Mary visited the Samsung Medical Centre, considered one of the best in Korea. Here she visited the cancer ward for children, where 43 children between 3-12 are currently committed. Mary chatted with the children so far it was possible and she said afterwards: "It's always very difficult to see children who are not healthy and well and undergoing treatment for something as sinister as cancer. But I think it was very obvious that they get the best treatment here at the hospital. It was very moving.
There was a language barrier which made it a bit difficult for me to talk to the children, but I did chat with a couple of them and that was really lovely".
Mary had to disinfect her hands before entering the ward.
Mary also wished to learn about the treatment of heart deseases at the hospital.
Another ward Mary visited was the neonatal ward. Here she had a closer look at one of four twins currently committed. The infant weighed only 380 grammes. And that moved her visibly.
She said afterwards: "Actually there were two pairs of twins on the ward. And it was hard to think of what treatment the two delicate babies must go through. That's how, I think, all mothers must experience it,, but it was lovely to see the care there is for the children. The treatments they get does after all mean that most survive".
Mary and her LiW, Tanja Doky, were observed sitting down for a few moments outside the hospital, enjoying a diet coke and having a chat.

M&F also visited the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom right at the demarkation line between North and South Korea. They had a close look at the North Korean soldiers - and the other way around!
Here they were briefed by an American officer named Taylor and two Danish officers, Bo Pedersen, who serves at Panmumjom and Jens Christan Lundsgaard, the naval officer who accompanied them at the War Memorial.
M&F (and everybody else) had been instructed not to behave in a way that might provoke the North Korean soldiers.
It was a sobering experience and Frederik said afterwards: "I think it was terrifying. It is a form of curbing freedom. The last bastion from the Cold War. It's incredible that it still exists today. You do remember how it was when the Berlin Wall fell (*), the entire shift from constant monitoring to freedom.
Even though it looks like something from a parade (**) and staged it is after all deadly serious and if I one day should return with my children it is worth trying to come up here, because their generation cannot remember how it was".

M&F also posed at the 250 kilometres wide demilitarized zone as well as visiting the Bridge of No Return. Here prisoners were exchanged between north and south but for security reasons they were not allowed to leave the car.

More next week.

(*) I wividly remember watching TV in disbelief the evening the Wall fell. It was completely surreal, not least because I was in the Army Home Guard at the time and we were preparing for the day (not if, when) East German divisions would roll up through Jutland from the south. Alternatively the majority of the medium range missiles targeting Denmark were located in East Germany.
A few years later I talked to a Polish marine, who told me how his brigade practiced landing at Køge Bay south of Copenhagen. By then we were on the same side, being UN peacekeepers.

(**) He is referring to the extremely alert stance by the sentries on both sides. With a very good reason! South Korean soldiers have been dragged across the line and North Korean soldiers always stand two and two, lest one of them should try to defect.
 
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Picture gallery from Day 5 reception with a few more pictures from the daytime event.

The association of unmarried mothers and their families
Picture gallery from todays events, some really nice pictures of Mary interacting with the young kids.
 
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She looks stuning in every event, all to perfection, I wonder how many people is traveling with them and how many are helping her with dress, heair and make up! she is the most classy and stuning princess!
 
thank you to all for the information pictures and more.:flowers::flowers:

Mary and Frederik really shine in these types of event. good in representing Denmark in my opinion.
 
I see you are from South Korea, perhaps you can tell us a bit about the large drum from the first day of M&F's visit? :)

Yes, I'm korean. :)
Thank you for always your posting about Danish Royal.

First of all, I'm not good at English so I'm not sure I can make you understand it.

Crown Prince And Crown Princess Of Denmark Visits South Korea - Day 1 - Pictures - Zimbio

The huge drum is just made super-size. Druming in the war means "advance to the attack" long time ago in Korea. So you can the print roaring of a tiger on the surface of the drum. Tiger is national animal of Korea. :)
Druming is a good behavior in Korea.



And,

sn.dk - Sjællands Nyheder

They were cutting race-cake called "DDUCK". You Know race-cake? :)
Korean believe "adzuki bean" ward off evil spirits. So when we pray to be peaceful of car/ship,cut race-cake with adzuki bean and eat together it. It is an old custom.

I hope this helps you to understand about photos a little. :)
 
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:previous:
Thank you, Sungmi :flowers:

I understood what you meant perfectly.

It's details such as this that makes this forum so interesting. You learn so much about other cultures and traditions.
 
Picture gallery from Day 5 reception with a few more pictures from the daytime event.


Picture gallery from todays events, some really nice pictures of Mary interacting with the young kids.

The pictures of Mary with the children have to be some of the cutest I have ever seen! The little ones are absolutely precious, and Mary seems so at ease and warm with them. Thanks for posting:flowers:
 
Thank you to all those who posted photos, transcripts and commentary about the tour.

I found it very interesting and it seemed that the couple were warmly received by the South Koreans that they met.
 
Another gallery from b.dk with great pictures from their last day, including a picture where Mary sweetly touching Frederick with a teddy bear :)

På med den royale brille | www.b.dk

The pictures of Mary with the children have to be some of the cutest I have ever seen! The little ones are absolutely precious, and Mary seems so at ease and warm with them. Thanks for posting:flowers:

It's very sweet pictures. I found a picture more and a gallery more from herognu.com

http://www.herognu.com/ImageProvider/PageFiles/547143/01_Mary__b468m.jpg

Hjertevarme Mary og de sydkoreanske børn
 
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Oh Indeed So Sweet Pics Of Princess Mary & Children , Thank you for Posting
 
This covers the rest of M&F’s visit to Korea.
Continued from last week.

Summary of a lot of articles in Billed Bladet #21, 2012.
All written by Anna Johannesen.

On the 14th May Frederik gave a speech for 800 Korean businessmen.
He took Mary by surprise by starting the speech with thanking Mary for their eight years together after which he explained to the businessmen: “You see it’s our anniversary today”. The led to an enthusiastic applause from those present and throughout the day M&F were congratulated by everybody, not least when they arrived to a gala dinner in the evening at Hotel Shilla with the arms around each other. There were 650 guests present and Mary wore Christian Louboutin shoes at the dinner.
M&F didn’t sit at the same table at the dinner however. As a present they got a portrait of themselves, made from Lego bricks.

Apropos Lego. 4.000 Korean school children had been beavering away building the highest Lego tower in the world and Frederik were drafted to place the last bit on top of the tower. So he was hoisted up in a lift and ended the event by planting the Lego flag on top. The children present applauded him. Alas, the tower was taken down the next. (*)
Safely down on the grown, Frederik was asked whether he could now be expected to be a hero in the eyes of his own children. He said that he would of course show Christian and Isabella some pics of “dad on top of a Lego mountain”.
Q: Are your own children playing with Lego?
F: “Yes, Christian has started and he is pretty good at putting the brick together. Isabella is more to dolls, but Lego also have some doll-stuff”.

Q: How good are you yourself?
F: “Fairly, if I may say so but if you throw yourself out in the big projects it takes time. You also have to be pretty good at it”.
Frederik added that he still has some bricks from his own childhood.

Mary visited an association for single mothers called Miss Mammamia. Being a single mother is Korea is hard! An unmarried mother is often ostracized from her family and as there is no public daycare, it’s extremely difficult for them to have a job. Nor is there any social security.
Mary met fourteen young single mothers and their children.
Mary was first presented with a nice little pink box, but a little girl and she said: “Oh, is that for me? Thank you very much”.
Another little girl Mary met, was very interested in the Georg Jensen ring Mary had on her right hand. In silver and shaped like grapes. So Mary took off her ring so that the girl could have a closer look.
That ring did attract a good deal of attention among the little girls present it seems. Because when the visit was ending, she took two year old Enoch Lee up in her arms and gave the girl a kiss on her cheek. While the girls fingers were fiddling with Mary’s ring, judging from the pics in the article.
Mary couldn’t speak so the children, so she tried to get the children to count how many fingers she has and played peek-a-boo with them.
Mary said afterwards that she missed her children a lot: “You naturally do that but at the same time I’m focused on the child I’m looking at and talking to. That’s where your attention lies.
It’s very difficult to understand when you come from a country like Denmark that it’s a taboo to be an unmarried mother. Our culture is very much different, but fortunately things have started to progress. Now they are talking about it here in Korea and there are associations that can help and take care of the young mothers. But the situation is tough, because these children get no education. It’s a vicous circle”.

The theme that day appears to have been children, Mary’s as well as other children. Because when Mary went to the Royal Copenhagen Exhibition she was met a two year old flowergirl named Taeho Kim dressed in a traditional costume. Mary had a little chat with the girl, who wasn’t the least bit concerned about all the adulst around her.
Inside the exhibition Mary came to a large photo of her and Frederik holding their twins during the summer cruise last year. Mary spontaneous uttered an: “Aww” and added: “Of course I miss the twins. Any mother would do that”.

M&F have been in daily contact with the nannies at home at Amalienborg.
Q: Have you missed the children?
M: “Naturally you miss them a lot but at the same time we know that they are fine. Christian and Isabella have a very active life (**) and when we are away we try to plan some extra things for them, so that the time passes more quickly”.

Q: What had you planned this time?
M: “Various activities”.

Q: Have you had time to buy something for your own children?
M: “No, there really haven’t been much time to find anything, but we got some sweet presents from the Koreans to take home with us. Mostly for the twins”.

Q: Like what for example?
M: “Well, a good example is actually that the first lady knitted some teddybears for Josephine and Vincent. That’s really cosy”.

Q: Can the twins walk now?
M: “They can”.

Q: Can the girl walk just as fast as the boy?
M: “She’s getting there. She’s fast on the move now and that’s lovely”.

Various trivia:
Mary has an Iphone 45, with a Saving lives in child birth-cover.

Frederik had learned to say: “Kam sa hap ni da”, which apparantly means thank you very much.

There was a considerable interest for M&F, also by people on the street.

At the visit to the War Memorial Tiwer Museum in Seoul, M&F each beat a huge war drum three times. The first time to celebrate the friendship between Denmark and Korea, the second time for harmony and the third time for a successful visit.

At the visit at EXPO M&F visited the Danish stand, that was covered last week, but they also visited the Australian stand and then proceeded to the Korean stand. 800.000 people were expected to visit the exhibition.

M&F also visited the exhibition of dresses by the designer Peter Jensen. Mary was very interested, while Frederik went around for a closer look at the mannequins. One of them wore Greenlandic inspired kamikker (boots) with stiletto heels and Frederik commented: “I don’t think the Greenlanders are that enthusiastic about them. They got a good deal of critisism when they first emerged”.

It wasn’t the only designer Mary met. At some point she visited a stand with jewellery by Julie Sandlaus, and here Mary met the husband, Dennis Jacobsen, whom Mary knows well from Christian’s school. Their son, Dallas, also attend preschool, albeit in the other class, but he and Christian often play together.

M&F visited an exhibition with furnitures by Finn Juhl. Frederik looked around and commented: “And that’s our living room”. M&F have Finn Juhl furnitures in their private apartment at Amalienborg.

Mary is not known to be the best cook around and that may be why at Grand Hyatt Hotel, she was flanked by two Danish chefs. Not that Mary’s task was that difficult. They made æbleskiver Æbleskiver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and Mary put in some fill made from fermented cream and lumpfish roe. (***) Mary said afterwards: “It’s somewhat different from those æbleskiver we have at Christmas with sugar, ice and jam”.

M&F were pretty pleased with the visit. As Frederik put it: “It was a smashing schedule”.
Mary said: “It was a very exiting and very important trio, full of really good and enriching experiences.
And in regards to the purpose of the trip it seems like there is a very good atmosphere for export and possibillities for cooperation between our two countries”.

Q: How have you experienced the Koreans?
M: “They have been so forwarding. They are really such happy and warm people. They have received us so well”.

Q: Is there an event that has left a particular impression on you?
M: “There are many things. That about coming to a country that 50 years ago was poor and now after these 50 years is among one of the big economies in the world. I believe Korea ranks as number five – that’s pretty fantastic. It’s very interesting to see a country grow so rapidly and then at the same time stand up in the DMZ-area”.

Q: You had your anniversary during the visit. Was it a surprise for you that the Crown Prince mentioned that from the rostrum at a business seminar?
M: “Yes, it sure was. I didn’t expect for him to incorporate that in his speech. But of course we both knew that was our day. You remember that sort of things”. (****)

Q: How did you celebrate it? Was there even time for celebration?
M: “We celebrated by being together. We had a really joyous evening and we got many well wishes”.

After the galadinner on the evening of their anniversary M&F met with the Danish artists who had entertained and others.
Q: Did the party go on longer than expected?
M: “Yes, we were celebrated and had time to say cheers and drink a glass of champagne”.

(*) Couldn’t they have left it for a couple of days? The children hardly had time to look at it and brag about it.

(**) Christian plays soccer.

(***) Okay!?! Well, normally you don’t fill them with anything. Æbleskiver is an all time favourite among children (and adults) here in DK. The best thing is of course to make them yourself and naturally in an iron cast pan. I rarely make them myself if there are more than our own children present, I simply cannot keep up, if there more children, even with a solid head start! So most of the time it’s a bag (well, two bags) of æbleskiver from the freezer and then I can stand there in astonishment and wonder how these little creatures can eat that much! Here we prefer to keep it simple, so we dap each æbleskive in sugar, take a bite, a new dap, gone! Repeat up to fifteen-twenty times per child.

(****) Minor correction, Mary: Women remember anniversaries as a matter of course. Men better remember anniversaries!
 
:previous: thank you Muhler for this wonderful article.
very interesting about the young mothers in Korea.

Frederik and Mary looked good and i think represented Denmark very well.

I would love to see the " portrait of themselves, made from Lego bricks."

I remember playing with Legos, my brothers and I, so its just not for boys only:).

and very sweet for Frederik beginning his speech and surprising Mary with a congratulations for their anniversary. its the little things that count :flowers:
 
Article from Billed-Bladet (translation), with an accompanying photo gallery. There are two pictures from the couple's arrival in South Korea at the beginning of the gallery.

Photo gallery from Lehtikuva.

Article from Hello Magazine.

Photo gallery from BT.



Image One ** Image Two ** Image Three ** Image Four ** Image Five

From Newscom



I Love her outfit during her visit to Korea. Indeed she never fail. I love her sunglasses she worn during her visit to Korea. Does anyone know the brand and style number or name of the sunglasses she's wearing throughout her visit to Korea? Is it her new sunny or recycled? I haven't seen this one before.
 
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