Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo-gyun (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) adopted and announced the ‘2023 Seoul Joint Declaration’ along with sports ministers from Japan and China.
On the 9th, Minister Park held the ‘4th Korea-Japan-China Sports Ministers’ Meeting’ with Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Keiko Nagaoka and China’s Deputy Director-General Zhou Jinchang. At this meeting, sports ministers from the three countries discussed ways to spread the Olympic spirit and build a sustainable sports environment based on the experience of three East Asian countries successfully hosting the Olympics since the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and suggested a new direction for sports exchanges. announced the ‘2023 Seoul Joint Declaration’. The meeting, hosted by Korea, was conducted as a video conference considering the corona situation in each country.The three countries of Korea, Japan, and China adopted the “PyeongChang Declaration,” “Tokyo Plan of Action,” and “Beijing Joint Statement,” respectively, through three meetings since the launch of the “Korea-Japan-China Sports Ministers’ Meeting” in 2016. We continue to cooperate through sports. The ‘2023 Seoul Joint Declaration’ consists of ▶spreading the Olympic spirit for future generations, ▶solidarity for sustainable sports development that encompasses the disabled, the elderly, underdeveloped countries, and the environment, ▶professional sports, anti-doping, daily sports, sports industry Strengthening cooperation is the main content.
Minister Park Bo-gyun said in a keynote speech, “This meeting is the first ministerial meeting to be held after the relay Olympics in the three countries. The spirit of solidarity and harmony through the Olympics should be able to leave a strong impression on future generations beyond the current generation.” . “Now is the time to expand new horizons in sports exchange in Northeast Asia,” he said. “Based on the unifying power of sports, the three countries should become leading countries that will lead the field of international social sports in the post-COVID-19 era.” .
The sports ministers of the three countries agreed that the goal of the Olympic movement is to build a peaceful and better world through youth education through sports activities, and agreed to the 2018 PyeongChang메이저사이트 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was agreed to establish a trilateral consultation channel to disseminate the assets of the future generations and to continue cooperation.
Minister Park said that next year’s “2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics” will showcase “a world united through K-culture and sports,” Japan will encourage youth athletes from Korea, Japan, and China to actively participate and compete in good faith together. and asked for China’s interest and support. In response, representatives from Japan and China said that they expect this event to be a rich cultural Olympics with a variety of events, including the ‘2022 Hangzhou Asian Games’ to be held this year and the ’25th Tokyo Summer Olympics’ to be held in 2025. He said that we will work together to make each event a success.
The representatives of the three countries also agreed to allow more people, including sports fans for life, to share the vision of harmony through sports, in addition to elite athletes. Sports exchanges for everyday life were separated into Korea-Japan (1997-) and Korea-China (2001-), and were conducted in the form of inviting and dispatching delegations from both countries every year, but 2020-2022 could not proceed due to the spread of the corona.
Minister Park said, “I hope that the three countries’ exchanges focused on professional sports will be further expanded to the field of sports for everyday life,” and a plan to integrate the exchanges for sports for everyday life, which were divided into Korea, Japan and China, and reorganize them into the ‘Korea-Japan-China Sports Festival for Life’. has suggested As Japan and China have agreed to the proposal, an international exchange program for living and sports in which the three countries participate will be held in a rotational manner from next year at the earliest.
In particular, the environmental and social values of sports were especially emphasized at this meeting. Based on these values specified in the Olympic Charter of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), many countries are introducing eco-friendly elements to international competitions, and are working to eliminate sports blind spots for the socially disadvantaged, such as the elderly and the disabled. “We need a new sports paradigm suitable for the post-COVID-19 era,” Minister Park said. “We need to lead the world in a better direction through sustainable sports that are considerate of the environment and the weak.” In addition, Minister Park shared with representatives of the two countries the sustainability strategy of the ‘2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics’, the ‘Oullim Sports Festival’ and the ‘Bandabi Sports Center’, examples of K-sports policies that everyone enjoys together. Accordingly, the representatives of the three countries agreed to cooperate together for ▶Research on establishing an environment-friendly sports development system, ▶Creating a culture of enjoying sports for the disabled, ▶Developing sports programs to promote health for the elderly, and ▶Developing support strategies for underdeveloped countries.
Based on the discussions at the meeting, the three countries will regularly review the implementation status of the ‘2023 Seoul Joint Declaration’ through manager-level working-level meetings. The 5th Korea-Japan-China Sports Ministers’ Meeting is scheduled to be held in Japan next year.