Gursharan Kaur attends dinner hosted by South Korea's first lady

Seoul, March 26 (IANS) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur was among the 14 spouses of leaders of countries and heads of international organizations at a dinner hosted by South Korean First Lady Kim Yoon-ok here Monday.

The dinner was hosted at the National Museum.

Gursharan Kaur had Sunday attended the banquet hosted for Manmohan Singh by South Korean President Lee Myung Bak after their bilateral meeting.

The other spouses at the Monday dinner were from Gabon, Nigeria, South Africa, Malaysia, Vietnam, Switzerland, Singapore, Indonesia, Italy, Turkey, the Philippines, the UN and the EU.

The dinner was hosted while the 58 head delegates to the Nuclear Security Summit were at a working dinner at the Summit venue that was attended, among others, by US President Barack Obama.

Prior to the dinner, the First Lady and the spouses went round an exhibition, displayed in the lobby of the museum, of art pieces by those who had taken part in the International Children's Peace Art Festival.

Before the dinner, First Lady Kim delivered a speech welcoming the spouses to South Korea and wished for the success of the Seoul Summit.

Lee Bae-yong, chair of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding, and Yang Il-Sun, chair of the Korean Food Foundation, explained South Korea's efforts to enhance its national image and globalize its cuisine, a statement said.

The dinner was followed by piano and violin performances by South Korea's young classical music prodigies.

"The dinner consisted of Western-style cuisine in consideration of those who had just arrived earlier in the day and of the fact that they would be served a Korean-style luncheon at Sangchunjae the next day," the statement said.