Crown Prince Frederik & Crown Princess Mary's Visit to South Korea: May 20-22, 2019

[Roskilde]

This has been a very lovely visit with a impressive programme for Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary.
They’re doing a wonderful work and are the best representatives of Denmark, and very popular. It is always a pleasure to see them together. Lovely couple.

This visit was busy and great, but perhaps due to election campaign in Denmark these weeks not covered as much and well as the Crown Prince Couple's visit usually are? Both DR and TV2 have covered the visit in their news broadcasts, but they often send their own reporters with the Crown Prince Couple. Maybe the visit was just more lowkey than others or maybe I simply just haven’t seen the reporters :)

[Muhler]

That is my impression too.

With the EP election and the general election running at the same time, there is little else but politics in the news these days and as such very little coverage of M&F.
They are usually well covered when they are abroad together.

[polyesco]

Thanks Roskilde and Muhler. I did see alot of coverage on twitter from the South Korean outlets. My Korean is worse then my Danish though ; )
But agree, Frederik and Mary do a great job. They were non-stop and with great energies

[Muhler]

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #21, 2019.
Written by our man in Korea, Ulrik Ulriksen.

This year marks the 60th anniversary for diplomatic relations between DK and South Korea and that was the official reason for this official visit by M&F. And as such there were a lot of cultural events during this tour. Mary BTW being patron for the Danish-Korean Cultural Year 2019.
But of course just as importantly was the large business delegation following M&F to Korea.
This is the second visit to Korea for Mary. It's the seventh visit for Frederik though, so he is in an official capacity a well known guest.

The visit started by M&F being officially welcomed by the President Moon and the First Lady, Kim Jung-sook at their official residence, The Blue House. - De facto on level as had M&F been heads of states.
After the mandatory photo-op and polite speeches it was time for a tour of the Demilitarized Zone with North Korea.
A 4 Km wide and 253 Km long zone. This is pretty much where the war started in 1949 and pretty much where the front-lines ended up three terrible years later.
They visited the famous and indeed infamous conference-building in the village of Panmunjom, through which the border goes.
And here they were given a briefing on the current situation along the DMZ by an American officer. Which is admittedly much more peaceful than it has been. At least they don't shell each other on a regular basis these days.
All that happened under the vigilant and indeed spooky supervision by North Korean soldiers.
- At least beforehand anyone getting too close to the border outside the building were held tight by others, because there was a real risk that North Korean soldiers might suddenly grab hold of the unfortunate soldier or civilian and try and drag him over the border to the north.
Perhaps that explains the dirty window Mary in particular was photographed through? No window cleaners in their right mind dare get so close to the border!
Frederik said afterwards: "The experience is something special each time, because it's the second time we are here in seven years and it's strange to experience a country which is among those in the world that are the most isolated from the rest of the world and that we can both stand and look directly into the eyes of North Korean soldiers who are filming us, that is special, that you must simply acknowledge." (*)

Mary added: "It was also good to get a briefing about the effort that is being done in order to have peace between the two countries. There is still a long way to go, but one has to be optimistic."

Frederik: "We are standing on historical ground right now which has been opened so that tourists and and other civilians can get an insight into what there is on the other side of the border. That's a new thing."

Mary: "It's a sign that a small gap is opening from both sides, because as far as we understand, there are also tourists from the northern side, so there are some positive steps forward."

Frederik: "We are all the time present with Danish (UN) officers and we have been so for decades. They are very much helping to maintain peace but also to ensure that progress can be worked on and not regress as has been seen so many times before."

Then M&F visited the Dora Observatory (or viewing platform if you prefer) nearby. Situated on top of Mount Dorasan it offers a spectacular and far view into the North Korean highland for tourists visiting the DMZ.
It is as such also a target that the North Korean artillery batteries have long since zeroed in on, should they get the idea of escalating the situation dramatically...
In the hope that this may never happen the Danish artists-commune, Superflex, have set up a three-seated swing next to the observatory. And here M&F and Jakob Fenger, who created the thing took a swing for peace.
- How this swing can symbolize peace eludes me, but it's admittedly more fun to have a swing than looking at some sculpture.

(*) It must indeed be weird standing a meter from a man who is under orders to potentially harm you, should you stick even a finger outside the window.

And here is this weeks scans of BB, should you have missed them in the Berleburg wedding thread:
https://app.box.com/s/47uami2p51ojrqegbl4gvu277vwvk7qk

[Muhler]

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #22, 2019.
Written by Ulrik Ulriksen.

This is the rest of the BB coverage of the visit to Korea.

DK was hosting the Grand Dinner at Hotel Shilla in Seoul, where various Danish representatives for the 49 businesses accompanying M&F to Korea were among the guests, as well as local Danish representatives, diplomats and what not - and of course their Korean counterparts and business partners. All in all some 440 guests in all.
They were treated to Danish cuisine and Danish culture, with M&F themselves as the clou of the night.
Mary wore a dress by Zimmermann and shoes by Prada as well as the earrings from her Ruby Parure.
Frederik wearing a suit and a nice tie gave the main speech.

M&F were not seated at the same table though, and that meant then when Mary was to be led to her table, the guide led her to the wrong table, so she got a little exercise before dinner. There is always a detail that goes wrong somewhere.

That dinner was the culmination of some very bust days!
M&F were made honorary citizens of Seoul. At a Citizen ceremony presided by the mayor of Seoul, Wonsoon Park.
Flanked by guards in traditional gear (I understand they are not a part of the armed forces, but civilians paid to stand still and look scenic. Please correct me if I'm wrong.) and a cute girls choir singing M&F were presented with a scarf, a diploma and a medal. In return Frederik gave a little speech, in which he said: "Now I can truly say that I'm a Seoul-man. And here is my Seoul-woman." Looking lovingly at Mary.
And as if that wasn't enough the Danish ambassador during his speech in the evening referred to M&F as "Seoulmates" the jokes were lining up...
Mary dressed, wholly in white went straight to a cooking show, where she managed to help to help two chefs preparing smorgasbord without staining her clothes.

Frederik was wearing suits during the entire visit, so BB focus almost entirely on Mary in the article.
That included looking at a mouthwatering, and no doubt insanely expensive, series of porcelain, produced by Royal Copenhagen, called Flora Koreanica. Comparable to Flora Danica.
East Asia is a cultured part of our planet, so H.C. Andersen's fairy tales are mandatory teaching in schools in Japan, Korea and China. As such Korea is marking the 200th anniversary of the author arriving in Copenhagen, and this is where he really took off and became a household name. Along with a number of local school children, Mary visited an exhibition of the author.
But we can't have a female royal who doesn't visit a children's hospital! So Mary did just that. And even though the children at Seoul National Hospital had no idea who this strange woman was, they eventually overcame their shyness and played a little with Mary.
It is a well known fact that Frederik is fond of modern art so M&F visited the Museum of Modern Art, where a number of paintings by Asger Jorn were exhibited. - As well as other pieces of I-think-the-artist-was-on-acid-works...
Here they were received by the Danish ambassadorial couple, including their four year old daughter, who had been shanghaied as a flowergirl for the occasion. But she did well.
The ambassadors wife, Jule Lehmann, wore what to me what looks like a traditional Korean robe, with a modern touch. Looking good actually. But there are no doubt someone somewhere, who will yell: Cultural appropriation!
That is nonsense. I think it's a sign of respect to wear a traditional outfit of the country in which you are a guest. Anyway we would all be stark ravers if there was no such thing as "cultural appropriation."
At the art museum, it was Mary who gave a speech and she was guided around by the, in Korea, well-known ballet dancer, Kang Sue-Jin. Who, just like Mary, is patron for the Danish South Korean Cultural Year.

Towards the end M&F met the press.
Frederik said: "It has been a blazing tour. It's been really good coming back after an interval of seven years and a lot has happened in this land since then, just ask the delegation that went along. They have also benefited a lot from this tour and have cemented some good relations, that were already in place." (Okay, that's not a direct translation, but Frederik doesn't always speak that good Danish.)
But did they have time to reflect?
Mary: "We have had some evenings together, but we have been in the company of hundreds of people or something like that. We talk when we are in the middle of events, but we are going to talk about this when we come home."
Frederik: "Yes, that's going to be nice."

But why are they such a good team?
Frederik: Ask my wife and she'll tell you to ask me."
Mary: "We are good together. We supplement each other."
Frederik: "We are also fine together. Also in the way that we really feel like and have courage to take on such jobs. It's fun and we learn something all the time. It's a learning-process for us, and you must learn all through life, and then you really make something out of each visit."
Mary: "We are passionate when it's about representing Denmark and Danish commerce abroad."

- For those who haven't seen the BB-scans in the Shaman-thread, here they are:
https://app.box.com/s/2a0yn00xhze2depzvpqyx6xcg6tkvg5r
There is also an appendix about Joachim's life, that I haven't scanned yet. And I don't think I will. It's not particularly interesting and printed on recycled paper it's not even particularly inviting.