Ministry co-hosts photo exhibition on history of Korean migrants in Cuba

A photo exhibition capturing the history of Koreans who migrated to Cuba in the early 1900s opened in Seoul on Thursday in celebration of the centennial anniversary of the migration, the foreign ministry said.

The weeklong exhibition, co-hosted by the ministry and Chonam National University, will showcase some 300 photographs and other visual materials that shed light on the lives of Koreans in Cuba in the 1920s and 1950s, including their efforts to assist the independence movement against colonial Japan.

The first recorded Korean migration to Cuba took place on March 25, 1921, when about 300 Korean farmers, who had been living in Mexico, moved to the neighboring country in search of a better life.

At present, about 1,100 descendants of ethnic Koreans live in Cuba.

"Today's photo exhibition is the first event organized to show that we remember the footsteps of Koreans in Cuba in the past 100 years and to let them know that Korea is with them," Lee Seong-ho, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, said in the opening remarks.

About 40 guests, including the descendants and Cubans living here, attended Thursday's exhibition opening in compliance with COVID-19 distancing rules. (Yonhap)