JEJU-DO < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) South Korean Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok will attend a culture ministers' conference with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts on Jeju Island this weekend, the government said Wednesday. 

Entering its eighth edition, the trilateral meeting on Saturday and Sunday will focus on ways to establish an Asian cultural community as a joint project by the three countries in arts, cultural assets and the culture-related industry, an official at the ministry of culture said.

For this year, their joint declaration will also include the co-development plan of the East Asia region through the Olympics. South Korea is the host nation of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games and Japan receives the Olympic baton in two years as they stage the Summer Games in Tokyo. China hosts the Winter Games in Beijing in 2022.

The ministry said Kim will also hold two-way talks with Chinese Vice Culture Minister Ding Wei and Japanese Culture Minister Hirokazu Matsuno to discuss bilateral cooperation with their respective countries in cultural matters.

The ministry said Chinese Culture Minister Luo Shugang will not attend the Jeju meeting due to his domestic schedule. This is the first time since 2014 that China sent its vice minister to the conference.

For the bilateral meeting with China, South Korea will check their cooperation process in the upcoming Olympics as well as joint culture festivals and exchange programs. With Japan, South Korea will also discuss their plans for the Olympics as well as expanding cooperation in such areas as cultural assets in museums.

The ministry said South Korea's Daegu, Japan's Kyoto and China's Changsha will be officially selected to be the "East Asia cultural cities" during the meeting. Under the action plan agreed on in 2012, three countries decided to name one city from their nation and promote cultural exchange between the towns from 2014.

The three-nation culture ministers' conference is an inter-governmental cooperative network. During the conference, a culture and arts festival will be held as well as traditional music concerts featuring artists from the three countries.

kdon@yna.co.kr

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