San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie throws the first pitch before a KBO League game between the Kiwoom Heroes and NC Dinos at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Kiwoom Heroes
Seoul and Francisco and Seoul celebrated the 50th anniversary of their sister-city bond this week with a series of diplomatic exchanges that ranged from ceremonial baseball pitches to the symbolic transfer of debris from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The historic artifacts, remnants of the disaster that reshaped the California city, are to be incorporated into a memorial garden currently under development in the Korean capital.
The festivities were anchored by a three-day visit from San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who led a delegation of more than 20 representatives to Seoul from Tuesday through Thursday. The mission marked Lurie’s first official overseas trip since taking office, signaling the high priority placed on the trans-Pacific partnership between the two technology hubs.
Accompanying him were Hagen Choi, chair of the Sister Cities Committee; music executive Ghazi Shami; Jim Coulter, chairman of private equity firm TPG; and Branislav Henselmann, executive director of the San Francisco Ballet, among others.
On the first evening, the delegation toured the Myeong-dong shopping and entertainment district, visiting beauty and retail stores and sampling street food as part of a review of Seoul's nighttime tourism offerings.
On Wednesday, a sports exchange event and welcome reception were held at the Gocheok Sky Dome, where Lurie threw the ceremonial first pitch and Stephen Revetria, president of San Francisco Giants Enterprises, performed the ceremonial first swing before a Korea Baseball Organization game between the Kiwoom Heroes and the NC Dinos.
On Thursday morning, Lurie met with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon before a stone donation ceremony for the Garden of Gratitude, a memorial Seoul is building to honor the 22 countries that supported Korea during the Korean War.
The stones donated by San Francisco were originally preserved from the city's severely damaged city hall following the magnitude 7.9 earthquake of April 1906, which destroyed more than 80 percent of the city and killed more than 3,000 people.
"San Francisco is a leading tourism destination and cultural center in the United States, and a city familiar to Seoul residents through sports exchanges," a Seoul Metropolitan Government official said.
"As San Francisco has donated stones symbolizing reconstruction and recovery to mark the 50th anniversary of our sister city relationship, we will build an even stronger bond between our cities through a wide range of exchange and cooperation programs."
Source: Korea Times News
