April 8, 2004

Japanese pop diva Amuro Namie paid her first visit to Korea Wednesday, addressing her fans at a press conference at the Seoul Grand Intercontinental Hotel. Namie is on a promotional tour for her upcoming concert at the Gymnastics Gymnasium in Olympic Park, Southern Seoul, May 13 to 15.

Wearing a tight black T-shirt she said, “So far, Korea and Japan haven’t understood each other well.” On the South Korean government’s policy to lift an import ban on Japanese culture she said, “I hope (South Koreans and Japanese) come to know more about each other.”

Hailing from Okinawa, Namie made her debut at age 15 and became a teenage Japanese idol in the 1990’s, creating new fashion trends for Japanese girls. Her 1996 albums sold 4.5 million copies and set a Japanese record for most units sold in a short period of time