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[Editorial] Tripartite ties

‘Culture Olympics’ will boost awareness of East Asia

Aug. 29, 2016 - 16:43 By 김케빈도현
Culture ministers from South Korea, China and Japan have agreed to work together to coordinate cultural activities throughout the upcoming Olympic Games in East Asia.

The three countries will hold non-sport events -- dubbed the “Culture Olympics” -- during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea said the “Cultural Olympics” may comprise of events focused on East Asian culture and exhibition tours of works jointly created by leading artists from the three nations.

The special event was proposed by the Korean minister of culture, sports and tourism, Kim Jong-deok, and his Chinese and Japanese counterparts agreed to cooperate closely in their trilateral declaration on Jejudo on Sunday.

The event is expected to draw worldwide attention as the three parties reached a consensus on sending cultural delegations to the Olympic host cities. They have also agreed to hold a variety of cultural events on the global stage to increase the awareness of East Asian culture.

The events of the “Culture Olympics” aim to get spectators and artists from around the world involved, for example, hosts could invite prominent figures from other continents and other Asian countries as observers.

Looking beyond the Olympic Games, the culture events could become a regular fixture, which could have a positive effect on diplomatic and economic ties among Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing.

This would also provide regional cities in the three countries the opportunity to expand its awareness. During the Jejudo gathering, Daegu in South Korea, Kyoto in Japan and Changsha in China were declared as the 2017 East Asia cultural cities. The three cities are close geographically and culturally.

Simultaneously, there is a need to energize the stagnant youth exchanges among the three nations. School field trips would be a desirable youth programs as well as exchanges in the game or pop culture industry.

The three parties may also seek ways to ramp up efforts to attract more Olympic related tourists between 2018 and 2022 and share diverse sports programs in the private sector.