Inaugurated in Tongyeong in 2023, this public sculpture commemorates João Mendes, the Portuguese sailor whose shipwreck on the Korean coast in 1604 marked the earliest recorded encounter between Portugal and Korea. Commissioned by the Tongyeong City Council with the support of Camões, I.P. and the Portuguese Embassy in Seoul, the work forms one half of a transcontinental sculptural dialogue initiated by Vhils to celebrate more than four centuries of exchange between the two countries. Its counterpart, installed in Lisbon's Jardim das Docas da Ponte in 2022, represents a Korean woman, together establishing a reciprocal relationship in which each nation hosts the image of the other. The project foregrounds encounter itself as a formative moment, transforming a story of maritime accident into a lasting symbol of mutual recognition, cultural exchange and diplomatic friendship. It is Vhils' first work in commemorative sculpture.