TCS

On 25 November 2022, the 20th Yellow Sea Rim Economic and Technological Conference took place in Busan, the ROK in an online-offline hybrid format hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the ROK, the Ministry of Commerce of China, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Kyushu Bureau) of Japan, Kyushu Economy International (KEI), co-organized by Korea-Japan Economy Association and Korea-Japan Cooperation Foundation for Industry and Technology. Deputy Secretary-General SAKATA Natsuko attended the Conference and delivered congratulatory remarks. In her remarks, she highlighted the crucial role of local governments in promoting economic and technological exchange and cooperation among the three countries, in particular in the Yellow Sea Rim, the influential economic bloc whose GDP is larger than that of ASEAN. She called for accelerating the regional cooperation on the full implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to bring more substantial benefits to the people of this region and exploring collaboration in green innovation to jointly address global challenges towards sustainable economic recovery and development. Marking its 20th Anniversary, this year’s Conference brought together central and local government officials, business leaders and scholars of the three countries to share their insights on boosting regional economic and people-to-people exchanges in the Yellow Sea Rim and to put forward trilateral cooperation in the areas of RCEP, supply chains, e-commerce, green economy and ICT, etc.▲ TCS Deputy Secretary-General SAKATA Natsuko Delivering Congratulatory Remarks▲ VIP Group Photo▲ Group Photo of Participants▲Conference in Progress

On November 18, 2022, Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) Deputy Secretary-General BEK Bumhym attended the Cheongju Cultural Exchange Activation Forum held in Cheongju, Republic of Korea. DSG BEK delivered a keynote speech on CCEA project and its significant role for promoting Trilateral Cooperation.In his keynote speech, DSG BEK introduced a brief history of TCS and CCEA project, followed by various endeavors of the cities of China, Japan, and ROK to utilize online platforms to maintain and promote active cultural exchange among them under the pandemic situation, which posed a challenge for the cities that mainly have conducted offline events in the previous years.Under the theme of “Coexistence and cooperation for CJK cultural exchange in the post Covid-19 era,” the forum was hosted by Cheongju City and organized by Cheongju Cultural Industry Promotion Foundation as one of their CCEA programs of the year 2022. The forum also had other experts discuss specific perspectives on trilateral culture exchanges and suggest constructive opinions for further strengthening cooperation among the three countries to encourage more active people-to-people and cultural exchanges in the future.▲ DSG BEK delivering a speech at the forum

On November 18, the Culture City of East Asia (CCEA) 2022 Gyeongju Closing Ceremony was held at Gyeongju Arts Center. The ceremony was hosted by Gyeongju City and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the ROK. Over 900 participants including Consulate-General of China and Japan in Busan, local government officials from Gyeongsangbuk-province, previous CCEAs and sister-cities of Gyeongju City, and Gyeongju citizens attended the event. The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat(TCS) was also invited to join the welcome reception and the closing ceremony.At the closing ceremony held under the theme of "Harmony and New Beginning," Gyeongju Mayor Joo Nak-young through his closing address looked back on the achievements of 4 CCEAs over the past one year and called for a leap forward for the future. The remarks and performances by the CCEAs of China(Wenzhou and Jinan City) and Japan (Oita Prefecture) were delivered through videos. Gyeongju also staged a performance that combines traditional performances and cutting-edge ICT technologies, wrapping up the journey that the cities of the three coutries have been on together over the past year and promising continuous harmony.Since 2014, China, Japan, and the ROK have each designated one city as CCEA and have engaged in trilateral cultural exchanges every year following the agreement made at the 4th Trilateral Culture Ministers' Meeting (TCMM) in 2012. In 2022, Gyeongju of the ROK, Wenzhou and Jinan of China and Oita Prefecture of Japan were designated as CCEAs.Next year, Chengdu and Meizhou City (China), Shizuoka Prefecture (Japan) and Jeonju City (ROK) will promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges in collaboration as CCEA 2023.▲ CCEA 2022 Gyeongju Closing Ceremony▲ Performance by Korea▲ Performance by China▲ Performance by Japan▲ Congratulatory Performance

On November 18, Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) Secretary-General Amb. OU Boqian delivered a special lecture at the opening ceremony of the ‘9th Trilateral Youth Diplomatic Camp’ at the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ‘Trilateral Youth Diplomatic Camp’ has been hosted by the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs annually since 2012. This year, 45 students consisting of Chinese, Japanese and Koreans who study in ROK participated the camp to promote their youth network and enhance understanding on Trilateral Cooperation. Deputy Director-General SEO Min-jung, Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau of the ROK MOFA, also attended the ceremony and delivered the welcoming remarks.During the lecture, Secretary-General OU introduced the history of Trilateral Cooperation and TCS’ efforts to institutionalize cooperation by fulfilling its missions to support existing mechanisms and explore new projects. She particularly highlighted that in the face of unprecedented challenges not only the pandemic but descending mutual perceptions, it is important to promote holistic understanding of each other, especially among younger generations of the three countries, based on balanced views towards other countries. To this end, she encouraged the students to explore various youth projects TCS will be hosting in the coming months with the launch of Trilateral Youth Month and Trilateral Youth Exchange Network in February 2023.Before the lecture, Secretary-General OU had a meeting with Deputy Director-General SEO to exchange ideas for future cooperation between TCS and ROK MOFA. She also exchanged greetings with ROK Foreign Minister H.E. PARK Jin.▲ Group Photo