1. The opening ceremony of the Hamel Memorial Hall, built in Hendrick Hamel’s hometown of Gorinchem, the Netherlands, to pay tribute to him, took place on June 4.

2. A building on the site considered the birthplace of Hamel was remodeled into the 17th-century-style Hamel Memorial Hall. The Hendrick Hamel Foundation, launched by businessmen in Gorinchem and other areas in April 2005, has led this project to build the Memorial Hall.

3. Koreans who attended the ceremony to congratulate this opening include Ambassador to the Netherlands Choe Jong-hyun, who represented the ROK government, Director-General for European Affairs Park Chul-min of the Foreign Ministry, and Executive Vice-President Yoon Keum-Jin of the Korea Foundation, which supported the establishment of the Memorial Hall.

4. The Hamel Memorial Hall will be used as a place to introduce Hamel and Korean culture to the Netherlands. It is expected to help further expand cultural exchanges between the ROK and the Netherlands.

o In October 2009, the ROK Embassy in the Netherlands and the Hendrick Hamel Foundation signed a letter of intent on cooperation, in which they agreed to utilize the Memorial Hall as a place to introduce Korean culture.


*unofficial translation