By Yoon Hee Young

The acting head of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul has stressed that Hanbok is part of Korean culture on his social media.

Christopher Del Corso, the embassy's charge d'affaires ad interim, on Feb. 8 tweeted the message "What comes to mind when you think of Korea? Kimchi, K-pop, K-dramas… and, of course, Hanbok" in both Korean and English.

He attached photos of himself wearing Hanbok and making a "finger heart" aka "K-heart." He also added the hashtag #OriginalHanbokFromKorea to his post.

The embassy's official Twitter account on the same day retweeted Del Corso's post.

On its official social media accounts like those of Twitter and Instagram, the embassy also posted a video of Del Corso visiting Unhyeongung Palace in Seoul's Jongno-gu District with Hanbok influencer and history instructor Yoo Mi-na, saying, "We love experiencing traditional Korean culture."

The opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 4 saw a woman wearing components of Hanbok like a pink dress and white jeogori (jacket). She was one of 56 performers representing ethnic groups across China who brought the Chinese national flag into the stadium.

Korean media on Feb. 8 quoted Korean diplomatic authorities as saying China delivered its position on the issue through a diplomatic channel, with Beijing saying, "The content of the opening ceremony's performances is completely irrelevant to the cultural origin issue."

hyyoon@korea.kr