First Lady Erdoğan officially opened the cultural center of Yunus Emre Institute in Seoul

Accompanying President Erdoğan's visit to Seoul, First Lady Erdoğan came to YEE's Seoul cultural center to make its official opening, with Yunus Emre Institute President Prof. Dr. Selim Argun was welcomed by the Head of Culture Department Ali Rıza Karabağ and other relevant persons.

First Lady Erdoğan, who opened the cultural center by cutting the ribbon, then went to the classroom where Turkish was taught to Korean students and chatted with the students.

Listening to the Turkish dialogue of two Korean students, First Lady Erdoğan applauded and congratulated the students whose speeches she liked.

First Lady Erdoğan, who also watched the live performance of Ebru artist Hikmet Kadir Bozok, contributed to Bozok's work.

First Lady Erdoğan, who took photos with Korean students by making a small heart sign created by overlapping the tips of the thumb and index finger, which started in South Korea and spread all over the world, said that Korean students learning Turkish will become ambassadors between Turkey and South Korea.

First Lady Erdoğan used the following statements in her post about the program on her social media account:

"I hope that the Seoul Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center, which was established in South Korea by our Yunus Emre Institute, which builds a bridge between cultures, will be beneficial to the two friendly countries. It is very valuable to meet with our students who are interested in our Turkish and to witness how our language and culture find beautiful responses in distant geographies. While our Yunus Emre Institute carries our civilization accumulation to the world, it introduces people not only to a different language, but also to different lives and thoughts. Because we learn each other's language, listen to each other's stories and value each other's values. "The closeness established between people who know each other is the strongest foundation of friendship between countries. I would like to thank all the members of our Yunus Emre Institute who work devotedly all over the world with this understanding."

About the institute

Yunus Emre Institute, which aims to introduce the Turkish language, culture, art and civilization to the world and to strengthen mutual understanding and cultural ties between societies, contributes to the development of the historical friendship and brotherhood relations between Turkey and the Republic of Korea in the fields of culture, art and education with its cultural center in Seoul.

The center, which previously operated within the Hankuk University of Foreign Languages ​​(HUFS), was recognized as a diplomatic cultural center by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea in 2025.

The cultural center, which was officially opened by First Lady Erdoğan today, has been in service since 2024.

In addition to teaching Turkish, 21 trainees receive Turkish language education at the cultural center, which allows Korean participants to get to know Türkiye and Turkish culture closely through sending students to Türkiye, Turkish cuisine courses, traditional handicraft workshops and various culture and art events.