[THE INVESTOR] South Korean Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok is to attend a culture ministers’ conference this weekend with his counterparts from China and Japan on the southern island of Jejudo this weekend, the government said Aug. 24.

Entering its eighth edition, the trilateral meeting Aug. 27-28 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, with Japan to receive the Olympic baton two years later as they stage the Summer Games in Tokyo. China is to host 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 Jejudo meeting due to his domestic schedule. This is the first time since 2014 that China has 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 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, the three countries decided to name one city from their respective nations and promote cultural exchange between them from 2014.

The three-nation culture ministers’ conference is an intergovernmental 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.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)