'Leonardo da Vinci at the National Museum of Korea?' — Lee visits Uffizi Gallery in Florence

President Lee Jae Myung, on a state visit to Italy, traveled to Florence — the largest city in Tuscany — on Saturday (local time) to visit the Uffizi Gallery.

Accompanied by Yu Hong-june, director of the National Museum of Korea, and Simone Verde, director of the Uffizi Gallery, Lee toured the second-floor exhibition halls to view the museum's signature works. The two institutions then signed a memorandum of understanding on cultural heritage exchange and museum cooperation.

The MOU aims to build a framework for cooperation between the two countries' leading cultural institutions, promote the international value of their respective cultural heritage and deepen mutual exchange.

The Uffizi Gallery houses the vast Medici family collection, including Giotto's "Ognissanti Madonna," Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" and Leonardo da Vinci's "Annunciation."

Under the agreement, the two institutions will expand personnel exchanges drawing on their expertise across museum services.

Cooperation will extend to a range of areas, including exhibition exchanges and loans, interpretation and education, collection management, restoration and publications.

During the visit, Lee held a summit with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, at which the two sides agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a "special strategic partnership." The two countries pledged to expand trade and investment and to strengthen cooperation in future industries including AI, defense and space, as well as in culture and people-to-people exchanges.

Yu met separately with Verde to discuss future cooperation between the two institutions, including potential exhibition exchanges.

"The National Museum of Korea has held special exhibitions every year introducing works from world-renowned institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery in London," Yu said. "We hope to bring masterpieces from the Uffizi — including works by Botticelli — to audiences in Korea."

Verde said he was well aware of the growing global influence of Korean culture. "I would very much like to introduce the Uffizi's collection to audiences in Korea," he said.