Culture ministers from South Korea, ASEAN to hold talks this week

SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- Culture ministers from South Korea and 10 Southeast Asian nations will hold a meeting this week in the southwestern city of Gwangju to discuss ways to boost culture and arts exchanges, Seoul officials said Monday. The Wednesday-Thursday meeting will come one month before a summit between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to be held in the southeastern port city of Busan from Nov. 25-26. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the ministers will discuss measures to promote "mutual cultural understanding, joint creative projects, cooperation between cultural and arts institutions, cultural industry exchanges and the preservation and utilization of cultural heritages." "The ministry will propose diverse and concrete cooperative projects to expand Korea-ASEAN cultural exchanges as part of the tasks of the New Southern Policy," the ministry said. The New Southern Policy is President Moon Jae-in's initiative proclaimed in 2017 to enhance relations with ASEAN, which consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN has hosted a regional cultural ministers' dialogue with South Korea, China and Japan since 2010 and a separate meeting with South Korea since 2014. "Through this meeting, we will actively exchange views for the development of a Korea-ASEAN cultural partnership and lay the foundation for future cooperation among new generations of people," the ministry said. On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, a Korea-ASEAN forum on culture and tourism and a traditional music performance will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Meanwhile, the Korea Press Foundation, a quasi-governmental organization, plans to hold a conference with Korean and ASEAN journalists and scholars in Seoul on Wednesday. Chung Hae-moon, former chief of the state-run ASEAN-Korea Center, will share his experience as a diplomat, and researchers from South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will discuss press cooperation between the two sides, the foundation said. (END)