The governor is tall, dark and handsome, in his mid-40s and rumored to have national political ambitions. And his name isn?t Martin O?Malley.
Gov. Kim Taeho of Gyeongsangnam province in South Korea visited Annapolis and O?Malley on Monday to sign a renewed sister-state agreement. He joked in Korean ? at least the Koreans in the audience laughed ? that he was sad to find the governor of Maryland shared some of the same physical attributes that wins Kim compliments in his globe-trotting.
“He is going to be a great leader of this country someday,” Kim told the audience at the governor?s Asian-American summit. Standing next to him, O?Malley blushed and said “gomapsumnida” ? “thank you” in Korean.
Kim is actually an inch or two taller than O?Malley?s 6-foot-1, with a similar political career, and the two-term governor of the province in southeast Korea is occasionally mentioned in the Korean media as a potential presidential candidate for the opposition Grand National Party. His foreign travels in April included a nine-day visit to the United States with four days in Maryland, and a short visit earlier in the month to Pyongyang, the capital of communist North Korea.
As other South Korean officials have done recently, Kim also extended his “deep condolences for the victims of the Virginia Tech” shootings. A Korean immigrant student, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 students and himself two weeks ago.
Kim also seemed to take O?Malley by surprise when he invited the governor to Korea this year or early next year. “Great,” O?Malley said. “I accept in concept.”
Kim and O?Malley also spoke at the final session of the governor?s first Asian Pacific American Summit, which brought more than 200 representatives of diverse ethnic communities to discuss common interests.
Maryland also has sister states in China, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Poland, Russia and Liberia.
