The culture ministers of Korea, China and Japan have adopted the Yokohama Joint Statement which contains a detailed action plan for trilateral cooperation on cultural activities.

On November 30 during the sixth Korea-China-Japan Culture Ministers Meeting, Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jongdeok, Chinese Vice Minister of Culture Yang Zhijin and Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Shimomura Hakubun adopted the Yokohama Joint Statement to strengthen cooperation on cultural activities among the three neighbors.

(From left) Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jongdeok, Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Shimomura Hakubun and Chinese Vice Minister of Culture Yang Zhijin adopt the Yokohama Joint Statement and pose for a photo on November 30 in Seoul.

The statement includes exchanges between the Culture Cities of East Asia,  the exchange and fostering of artists, exchanges between cultural facilities and organizations, cooperating on protecting cultural heritage, cooperating on cultural industries and strengthening copyright protection, diversifying communication channels between governments and more, all with the aim of broadening cooperation.

This trilateral culture ministers meeting has designated Korea's Cheongju, China's Qingdao and Japan's Niigata as each country's Culture City of East Asia in 2015. Domestic events and exchanges with the other two designated cities will take place throughout next year.

Ministers of culture from Korea, China and Japan participate in the sixth Korea-China-Japan Culture Ministers Meeting on November 30 in Seoul.

The day before the ministerial meeting, on November 29, bilateral meetings between Korea and China and then Korea and Japan were held to discuss various ways to increase bilateral exchanges.

During the Korea-China meeting, both parties agreed to enhance the cultural cooperation system by broadening the present cooperation at the ministerial level to include cooperation between other departments related to cultural industries. This bilateral meeting contained agreements to set up a joint research center for Korea-China cultural industries, joint entry into the international animation market, and expedited the formation of a joint fund for cultural industries and other various efforts to foster the cultural content industries.

Korea and Japan both identified the need for cultural exchanges between the two countries and found an opportunity to improve relations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of normalizing diplomatic relations next year. The two also recognized the upcoming PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as opportunities to increase cooperation on sports, attracting Olympic related tourists, holding Korea versus Japan matches, which are popular in both countries, sharing Japan's youth related sports programs and Korea's elite sports programs and more.

The seventh Korea-China-Japan culture ministers' meeting will be held next year in China and will discuss action plans for 2015, 2016 and 2017.

By Paik Hyun
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
cathy@korea.kr

Ministers from the three countries sign the Yokohama Joint Statement at the sixth Korea-China-Japan Culture Ministers Meeting on November 30.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jongdeok, Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Shimomura Hakubun and Chinese Vice Minister of Culture Yang Zhijin (sitting on stage, from left) hold a press conference during the sixth Korea-China-Japan Culture Ministers Meeting on November 30.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jongdeok (left), Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Shimomura Hakubun (third from left) and Chinese Vice Minister of Culture Yang Zhijin (second from right) take a photo with the mayors of Korea's Cheongju, Japan's Niigita and China's Qingdao, the three cities chosen as Culture Cities of East Asia for 2015, during the sixth Korea-China-Japan Culture Ministers Meeting on November 30.