East meet West

Putin's daughter to wed Korean after inauguration on May 7

By Kim Jung-yoon Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin’s daughter will marry a 28-year-old Korean shortly after the presidential inauguration slated for May 7, local radio CBS reported in Seoul Friday. Yoon Joon-won, the second son of retired Admiral Yoon Jong-gu, 67, and Yekateria Putina (Katya), 26, have been dating for 13 years, since they first met at a ballroom of an international school in Moscow in July 1999. “Yoon will leave for Moscow today for the wedding,” the radio reported in its Internet edition, quoting government sources. It is reported that Yoon has been escorted by a Russian security guard. He has been staying at a hotel in Seoul since early this week. Yoon joined Samsung Electronics' branch office in Moscow, after graduating from the University of Illinois in August 2009. However, he quit his job at the electronics giant as news that the couple were dating was disclosed to the public in October 2010. Yoon attended an international school in Moscow for eight years, when his father served at military attaché at the Korean Embassy in the Russian capital from 1999. Yoon and his family are known to have had a good reputation in the Russian society as honest figures. Yoon, who is fluent in five languages and dances well enough to outshine ‘B-Boy,’ was also a popular student during his middle and high school days. Later when Yoon was admitted to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, majoring in international studies, the two dated in the U.S. and Russia back and forth, through exchange student programs. They were also reported to have dated in Seoul back in 2002 when the Korea-Japan World Cup soccer championship was held. Putin, who won his third term on March 4, has two daughters, the elder of whom has married a Dutch.