President Lee gifts Korean drum set to Takaichi... exchanging Galaxy Watch and Casio

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\r\n\r 【Financial News Seoul Special Metropolitan City·Nara (Japan)=Reporters Choi Jong-geun and Sung Seok-woo】As President Lee and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan accelerate shuttle diplomacy through the Korea–Japan summit, attention is also focusing on the gifts exchanged between the two leaders.
According to Cheong Wa Dae on the 14th, President Lee presented the spouse of Prime Minister Takaichi with a Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, while Prime Minister Takaichi gifted President Lee a Casio wristwatch, a Japanese brand. The two leaders thus exchanged watches that embody each country’s representative technologies.
Cheong Wa Dae stated, "The Galaxy Watch was presented so that the prime minister’s spouse can monitor her condition, and it incorporates technology that represents Korea." The Casio watch that Prime Minister Takaichi gave to President Lee is an eco-friendly product equipped with various functions such as solar charging and direction measurement, and it uses biomass plastic.
President Lee also gifted a Korean-made drum and drumstick set. This reportedly took into account that Prime Minister Takaichi formed a rock band and played as a drummer in high school, and that she is such an avid drum enthusiast that she carried drumsticks with her when she was first elected to the National Diet. The drum set consists of a drum from the Korean brand Markers Drum and drumsticks adorned with traditional Korean mother-of-pearl lacquerwork by master craftsman Jang Jun-cheol, a specialist in wood and lacquer crafts, adding a touch of traditional Korean beauty.
Earlier, at a social event following the summit on the 13th, Prime Minister Takaichi held a "surprise event" by performing a drum duet with President Lee and also presented him with drumsticks. Following the wristwatches, the two leaders thus exchanged drumsticks as gifts as well. At the time, the two leaders played drums together to the theme song "Golden" from "K-Pop Demon Hunters" and BTS’s hit song "Dynamite." Prime Minister Takaichi even led the ensemble by giving President Lee an impromptu lesson on how to play the drums on the spot. Cheong Wa Dae emphasized, "As the central instrument that leads the rhythm, the drum simultaneously symbolizes strong driving force and flexible harmony, which aligns with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s political philosophy."
In addition, President Lee presented red ginseng, a representative Korean health food, and Cheonggukjang powder and pills, which make it easy to consume Korea’s signature fermented food, as a wish for Prime Minister Takaichi’s good health amid her busy schedule. For the prime minister’s spouse, he also delivered, in addition to the Galaxy Watch Ultra, a set of handcrafted organic lacquered wooden tableware and stone plates.
Prime Minister Takaichi gifted First Lady Kim Hea Kyung cosmetic brushes and pouches from Akashiya, a brush manufacturer based in the Nara region.
Meanwhile, on behalf of Prime Minister Takaichi, the Japanese side placed in President Lee’s accommodation a "welcome kit" of local signature Japanese confections, including monaka and rice cakes made with kudzu grown in Nara Prefecture. The assortment included Mimuro Monaka, a specialty confection from Shiratamaya Eiju, a long-established shop in Nara Prefecture with a history of over 170 years; monaka filled with persimmons, a specialty of Nara Prefecture; and Kasuga Monaka, which originates from offerings made to the deity of Kasuga Taisha Shrine, a famous shrine in Nara built in the 8th century.
cjk@fnnews.com Choi Jong-geun, Sung Seok-woo Reporter