Field trips to Korea by Japanese students are set to resume on March 21 after a three-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Shown is a group of students from Chiben Gakuen Senior High School in Gojo of Japan's Nara Prefecture during their field trip to Gyeongju Expo Park in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province. (Gyeongju Expo Park)

By Yoon Sojung

Japanese students will resume going on field trips to Korea after a three-year hiatus due to the coronavirus.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea on March 20 said 37 students from Luther Senior High School, which is located in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture, from March 21 will travel Seoul and Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do Province, for five days.

Japan from 1972 first sent students on field trips to Korea and continued to do so through early 2020, when COVID-19 broke out.

During their trip, the Luther students will spend time in exchanges like observing classes and meeting students at Shinheung High School, their sister school in Jeonju, visiting Jeonju Hanok Village and wearing Hanbok (traditional clothing).

Greeting the students at their welcoming ceremony slated for March 21 at 2 p.m. at the arrival section of Incheon International Airport will be the ministry's Youth Policy Advisor Choi Soo Jie and 2030 youth advisory group Dreamers.

The ministry said the trip holds great significance in marking a new start of exchanges between the future generations of Korea and Japan due to the turning point in bilateral relations thanks to the March 16 summit talks between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

To boost such exchanges, the ministry plans to further diversify content for education tourism and encourage school exchanges. For this goal, it will work with the Japanese tourism industry to develop field trips on subjects of interest to Japanese schools and promote such programs in key regions of Japan in the first half of the year.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo Gyoon said, "The field trip to Korea by 37 Japanese students may be a small beginning but is also the start of future-oriented Korea-Japan relations," adding, "To usher in a new era of Korea-Japan ties, we must expand opportunities for exchange so that future generations (from both nations) can play a pivotal role."

arete@korea.kr