Cultural Insight

[Anchor Lead]

Queen Elizabeth II of English visited Andong in Korea's Gyeongsangnbuk-do Province 20 years ago. Her second son Prince Andrew will visit the same city of Andong this time around. Let's take a look

[Pkg]

It's official. Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province will welcome Prince Andrew of England on May 14th. He is coming to mark his mother Elizabeth II's visit to the historic Korean town two decades ago. In preparations for the royal visit, a security team inspected the area on April third. Queen Elizabeth II made a state visit to Korea in April 1999 at the invitation of then President Kim Dae-jung. As she wanted to see the most uniquely Korean aspects of the country, the queen toured the Hahoe Folk Village in Andong. Actor Ryu Si-won, a descendant of Joseon era scholar Ryu Seong-ryong, served as a guide for the queen's tour at the time. Next month, Prince Andrew is also expected to travel to the same places his mother visited 20 years ago. The city of Andong will host a welcome ceremony for Prince Andrew on May 14th at Hahoe Village. A variety of events such as special marketplaces will be held from May 10th in honor of the royal visit. A musical centered on the renowned freedom fighter Kim Koo will be staged this month to commemorate the 70th anniversary of his death as well as the centennial of the founding of Korea's colonial era provisional government. The Cultural Foundation of the National Museum of Korea announced the musical "Baekbeom" will be performed on April 11th and the 12th at the National Museum of Korea theater. The shows will be sort of a testing grounds and demonstrative in nature ahead of the musical's formal debut next year. This month's performance will be an 80 minute recital, capturing the key scenes of the musical. The story picks up from the time Kim Koo arrives in Shanghai and the plot depicts how he assists two other independence activists Lee Bong-chang and Yun Bong-gil. Musical actor Lee Ju-kwang stars as Kim Koo. Also among the cast are Song Wook-kyung and Moon Ji-soo.