Hungarian Ambassador to Korea Mozes Csoma speaks during a launch ceremony for his photo book, “The Relations of the Korean Peninsula and Hungary Seen Through Rare Photos,” at the Hungarian Cultural Institute on Feb. 6. (Hungarian Cultural Institute)
Hungarian Ambassador to Korea Mozes Csoma has published a photo book that looks back on 30 years of friendship between Seoul and Budapest.

Titled “The Relations of the Korean Peninsula and Hungary Seen Through Rare Photos,” the book contains rare pictures that depict the long history of ties between Korea and Hungary.

“I wanted to release a book introducing relations between the Korea Peninsula and Hungary to commemorate last year’s 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties,” Csoma told The Korea Herald during a book launch ceremony held Feb. 6 at the Hungarian Cultural Institute in central Seoul. Seoul and Budapest forged diplomatic ties in 1989.

“In the summer of 2018, before I was named to the ambassador post, I had searched for meaningful photos on the Hungarian new agency’s archive. ... I wanted to show pictures that are unfamiliar to Koreans.”

The book features photos taken by Bozoky Dezso, an army surgeon in the 1900s from what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, among other photos that depict Hungary’s presence on the Korean Peninsula and vice versa.

Csoma is a non-career ambassador who was appointed to the top position in September 2018 on the basis of his expertise in the history of the Korean Peninsula.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)