S. Korea, Thailand agree to launch joint world expo next year

BANGKOK, June 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Thailand agreed Tuesday to launch a
50-day joint world culture expo in Bangkok next year to promote bilateral
friendship and cooperation and publicize the historic cultures of the two
nations.
Kim Kwang-yong, visiting governor of South Korea's North Gyeongsang Province, and
Thai Culture Minister Teera Slukpetch signed a memorandum of understanding at a
Bangkok hotel to hold the Bangkok-Gyeongju World Culture Expo 2010 from October
20 next year.
Kim led a delegation from the organizing committee of the Gyeongju World Culture
Expo operated by North Gyeongsang Province in southeastern South Korea and the
provincial city of Gyeongju.
The delegation's visit to Bangkok came on the heels of a summit between South
Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva held
earlier this month, in which the two countries agreed to cooperate for the
successful launch of the expo.
The expo will feature performances of 15,000 cultural figures and artists from 40
countries.
Venues will include Sanam Luang field near the Grand Palace, the National Theatre
of Thailand, Bangkok National Museum, Thammasat University and the National
Gallery of Thailand.
The Bankok expo will mark the second time for the South Korean-originated expo to
be held overseas. South Korea and Cambodia held a similar event in Cambodia's
northern province of Siem Reap, hometown of the famed Angkor Wat temple complex,
in 2006.
Gyeongju, the capital of the ancient Silla Dynasty on the Korean Peninsula for
1,000 years, has promoted its cultural heritage with the event since 1998.
(END)