Hue authorities decide South Korean naked man statue to be installed in park

The Greetingman, gifted by the mayor of Namyangju city last month, would be installed in Ba Thang Hai (February 3rd) Park in front of the Hue University of Education, Nguyen Van Thanh, Chairman of Hue People’s Committee, said Tuesday.

Authorities had been scratching heads to figure out where to place the six-meter statue due to its "sensitive nature."

But now it would be made smaller than its originally intended size to fit the surroundings.

Several locations were considered, including Dong Ba Market on Tran Hung Dao Street, the Imperial City and a park near the Huong River in front of the Hue Cultural Center. But cultural experts rejected all three citing "architectural and geomantic conflicts."

Sculptor Yoo Young Ho will make the statue in aluminum and it will carry a message of "respect and understanding" and serve as a display of humility through the traditional South Korean greeting it will depict.

It will be cast in South Korea and brought to Vietnam.

"Family," a statue at the Ba Thang Hai Park in Hue. Photo by VnExpress/Vo Thanh

The Ba Thang Hai Park next to the Huong River has dozens of statues made by sculptors from Vietnam and other countries during the Hue Festival, a biennial event to celebrate the town’s cultural legacy and values.