1. On October 2, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se attended the opening ceremony of the Korea-Japan Festival 2016 in Seoul to celebrate the event that marks the 12th of its kind in 2016 and to express the commitment to seek closer communication between the peoples as well as to conduct more exchanges and cooperation projects between the governments of the two countries.

° In his celebratory remarks, the Minister noted that the 50th anniversary in 2015 of the normalization of the Republic of Korea-Japan diplomatic relations had served as a milestone in the development of the bilateral relationship, hailing the currently-ongoing active and positive moves to seek future-oriented advances in the ties.

° In particular, he stressed that in the face of various challenges, such as the North Korean nuclear issue and other security crises in Northeast Asia as well as geopolitical conflicts in East Asia, the ROK and Japan should muster their power and wisdom.

° The Minister added that given the importance of trust-building for the ROK-Japan relations to become more mature, not only the governments but also all the other sectors, including civil societies, academias, media outlets and businesses, of the two countries should work to cultivate the spirit of understanding and cooperation.

2. Minister Yun attended the Korea-Japan Festival in Seoul for the third time. Ahead of the opening ceremony, the Minister had conversations with Japanese Ambassador to the ROK Yasumasa Nagamine, Mikio Sasaki, the Japanese head of the Korea-Japan Festival Committee, and other major guests, during which the two sides agreed to work together to further develop the ROK-Japan relations, including through more robust people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

3. The Korea-Japan Festival, which has become the largest grass-root exchange event as well as a signature fall festival between the two countries, has taken place in their capitals at the same time on an annual basis since 2009.

° The ROK Foreign Ministry, as a sponsor of the Korea-Japan Festival, will continue efforts for the peoples of the two countries to experience various aspects of each other’s cultures and to build friendship at the event.


* unofficial translation