Jeonju: Japan, China and South Korea on Friday held a meeting of their cultural affairs ministers in Jeonju, South Korea, adopting a joint declaration to promote trilateral cultural exchanges and cooperation.

The three countries held such a meeting in the face-to-face format for the first time since 2019.

Participants included Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Keiko Nagaoka, Chinese Culture and Tourism Minister Hu Heping and South Korean Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Park Bo-gyun.

At Friday’s meeting, Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture, the Chinese cities of Dalian and Weifang and the South Korean city of Gimhae were designated as cultural cities for 2024 that will interact with one another through cultural and artistic events that year.

The three countries choose such cities every year. For 2023, Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture is among those on the cultural city list.

Under the framework of dialogue among the three East Asian countries, South Korea holds this year’s presidency. Seoul aims to hold by year-end a trilateral summit, unseen since December 2019.

According to a South Korean government announcement, Park expressed hope that Friday’s meeting will serve as a bridge among the three countries to realize the summit.

JIJI Press