Visiting the United Arab Emirates with President Moon Jae-in, South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook gave out CDs signed by Korean boy band BTS to students learning Korean at the King Sejong Institute in Abu Dhabi.

The first lady met with students from King Sejong Institute at a “souq,” or traditional market, where the students had prepared a cup of freshly brewed coffee for her.

When Kim asked how they could speak Korean so well, a student answered, “Female Arab students especially like the language, (because) we are interested in Korean culture, food and K-pop.”

As one of the students said the most memorable experience during her trip in Korea was learning traditional culture inside a hanok, or traditional Korean house, the first lady replied, “Although the tradition of living as an extended family is fading, you can still find some traces of it. The culture of extended families here reminds me of that in Korea.”

Another student expressed her enthusiasm to discover and spread the similar cultures of the two countries.

Kim shared the positive attitude with the students and said, “Thank you so much for having interest in Korea, and I hope we can better appreciate one another with more opportunities to meet in the future.”

Kim then distributed the special gift of the autographed BTS CDs to students, marking the highlight of the day.

By Ahn Sang-yool (koolsangon@heraldcorp.com)