Hines Ward, the wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers met up with the South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak during his visit to Pittsburgh during the G20 summit.   According to Hines’ tweets, he presented the South Korean president with a “signed football of Mr. Rooney, Coach Tomlin, and myself.”  Ward also noted that the South Korean President is “a big Steelers fan now.”

Hines Ward described his experience by saying he “Had an awesome visit with Korean President Lee. Again I was another President’s right hand man. I got a chance to welcome him to our great city of Pittsburgh and wished him the best trying to improve the country of Korea. I also added that I will continue to bring a positive light on bi-racial kids of Korea. Also, the first lady was very beautiful.”

Hines Ward started his public bridge to his Korean roots after he had won his first Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Hines Ward is of Korean descent and his life story became an inspiration for many bi-racial kids who live in South Korea.  He has donated $1M to the Hines Ward Helping Hand Foundation to help children who suffer from discrimination.

More from the The Korea Times
President Lee Myung-bak and first lady Kim Yoon-ok met with Korean-American football star Hines Ward and leaders of the Korean community in Pittsburg upon arrival there Friday to participate in the G20 economic summit.

It was the first meeting between Lee and Ward, since the Pittsburg Steelers wide receiver was invited in February 2008 to Lee’s inauguration ceremony in Seoul.

Lee told Ward that he and U.S. President Barack Obama are both fans of the Steelers. Ward said he felt grateful for being invited and gave Lee an autographed football, Cheong Wa Dae said.

Ward has often expressed his love for the Korean people. Recently, he donated $1 million to create the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation, and donated another $1 million to help multicultural and Korean people in the United States.

During his visit to a Korean War memorial altar set up in 1991, Lee met with U.S. veterans who fought in the 1950-53 conflict.

Lee said South Korea will never forget those who sacrificed themselves to defend the country and promised to promote exchange programs with veterans and their families.

Lee’s meeting with the veterans is significant as Seoul and Washington are preparing joint events to mark the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the war next year.

On Monday, first lady Kim cooked traditional Korean food and served it to some 50 U.S. veterans and their families in New York.

Early this year, the Korean government launched a 48-member committee to prepare for the 60th anniversary. The panel will work with government agencies and groups of war veterans on commemorative projects.

“Korea will work with American veterans to help post-war generations understand the war and be grateful for the countries that defended our country as members of the United Nations,” a presidential spokesman said. “We will also focus on sharing our experience of rapid economic growth with the world and promoting cultural and economic exchanges.”

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