Caricatures of presidents on show

Visitors pass by a set of paintings motivated by President-elect Park Geun-hye at the exhibition entitled “Presidents Meet Comic Art” at the Korean Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, west of Seoul, Sunday. / Korea Times photo by Cho Young-ho

Various caricatures, dolls and cartoons featuring past Korean presidents are on show at a special exhibition titled “Presidents Meet Comic Art” at the Korean Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, west of Seoul, through March 31.

Organized by the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency (KOMACON), the show is designed to commemorate the 18th Presidential Election, which took place on Dec. 19.

“The exhibition featuring the past presidents as the subject of caricatures and cartoons shows that the status of Korean comic art has been raised,” KOMACON President Lee Hee-jae said at the opening ceremony on Friday.

“Presidents Meet Comic Art” exhibition at the Korean Manhwa Museum in Bucheon will run through March 31.

“I hope that the exhibition will be a retrospective of past presidents and an opportunity to reflect people’s aspirations for the nation’s new leader,” said Jeon Tae-heon, vice mayor of Bucheon.

On display are caricatures of former Presidents Syngman Rhee, Yun Bo-seon, Park Chung-hee, Choi Kyu-hah, Chun Doo-whan, Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Lee Myung-bak by prominent cartoonists Park Ki-jung, Park Jae-dong, Park Sun-chan and Sohn Moon-sang.

Apart from the caricatures, various life-size dolls exaggerating the characteristics of the former presidents and human-shaped lanterns made from “hanji” (traditional Korean mulberry paper) are installed in the museum lobby.

Satirical cartoons of the past presidents from daily newspapers can also be seen.

Some 300 of the cartoons capturing the major events of the past presidents from Rhee to Lee including their inaugurations are displayed in chronological order.

There are pop art paintings and a media show by eight artists featuring President-elect Park Geun-hye of the Saenuri Party too.

The exhibition will hold a separate section in which 18 comic artists present their wishes for the new President through their works from Jan. 11. It will also feature comic art presented by ordinary fans.

A special section for children shows educational comics which explain politics including democracy and the presidency.

Admission is 5,000 won. <The Korea Times/Chung Ah-young>