Incheon [South Korea], August 30: The cultural ministers of China, Japan, and South Korea have on Friday agreed to step up future cultural exchanges and cooperation based over principles of “mutual respect and reciprocity” in order to promote peace and diversity in East Asia.
South Korean cultural minister Park Yang-woo held a trilateral meeting with Chinese cultural minister Luo Shugang and their Japanese counterpart Masahiko Shibayama in a South Korean port of Incheon in the midst of tensed diplomatic and trade spat between Seoul and Tokyo, according to Reuters.
Though these three nations promote future cultural exchanges, but have different views over their shared bilateral histories, like Japan’s occupation of parts of China and Korea.
All three minister also promised to enhance sport, people-to-people, and cultural exchanges over the next ten years, in-between which, Japan will host the 2020 Summer Olympics and China will host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The ministers issued a joint statement which read: “The three countries made it clear that future cultural exchanges and cooperation should be conducted based on the principles of mutual respect and reciprocity and in a way that promotes cultural diversity and peace in East Asia.”
Japan’s Shibayama and Korea’s Park also held a separate bilateral meeting on Thursday during which both the leaders agreed to continue their cultural exchanges despite the tensed spat between the two nations, South Korean cultural ministry said in an official statement.
On Friday, Shibayama told reporters more civilian cooperations were required to strengthen the bilateral ties.
“Japan-South Korea relations are in a tough spot and deepening exchanges at the grass-roots level through cooperation in the cultural field will help improve relations,” Japan’s Kyodo news agency quoted Shibayama as saying.