Methodists among guests at state dinner for Korean president
6/6/1998 by United Methodist News Service Several widely known Methodists were among 197 guests at a state dinner at the White House June 9 honoring South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and his wife, Lee Hee Ho.
Former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, James K. Laney, now of Atlanta, and his wife were among the guests. Laney, an ordained United Methodist clergyman and former missionary to South Korea, was president of Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta from 1969 to 1977 and the ambassador in Seoul from 1993 to 1997.
Other United Methodists present included Pharis and Jane Hull Harvey. Jane is a staff executive with the United Methodist Board of Church and Society in Washington. Pharis, former executive director of the North American Coalition for Human Rights in Korea, is now executive director of the International Labor Rights Fund. Jane's friendship with Lee goes back to college days when the two were roommates at Scarritt College for Christian Workers in Nashville, Tenn., in the late 1950s.
The Laneys and Harveys attended the inauguration for Kim in February. Kim a Roman Catholic; Lee is a member of the Korean Methodist Church.
Lee Hong Koo, South Korean ambassador to the United States, and his wife, both members of the Korean Methodist Church, attended the dinner. Sam Nunn, a former senator from Georgia and a United Methodist was present.
Kim, 74, elected president in December, has long been a democratic activist. He received a death sentence that was later commuted to life in prison and later still to life exile. Today he heads one of the most strategically important countries in the world. He was narrowly elected on a platform of a more democratic, market-based society. His week-long U.S. visit, which began in New York, June 6, was a bid for U.S. investment, international loans and trade agreements.
According to the Washington Post, the dinner menu included Oregon Hood River spotted prawns with sweet potato and onion terrine, honey ginger glazed lamb with rice cakes, and baby bok choy. Peaches, raspberries and peach brandy sabayon were served for dessert, along with a white chocolate trellis decorated in dark chocolate with the relief of a Korean mountain.
After dinner, guests were entertained by President Kim's own choice, soprano Hei-Kyung Hong, a Korean native who studied at Julliard School of Music and now lives in New York.
During his visit Kim and President Clinton agreed to a gradual approach to improving relations with North Korea.
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