TCS

On April 26, the Culture City of East Asia (CCEA) 2023 Jeonju Opening Ceremony was held at Korea Sori Culture Center. The ceremony was hosted by Jeonju City and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of the ROK. Around 2000 participants including the representatives from the 2023 CCEAs host cities (Chengdu, Meizhou, Shizuoka), officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, people in the arts and culture industry, and Jeonju citizens attended the event. The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) was also invited to join the welcome reception, and the opening ceremony. 

At the opening ceremony, Jeonju Mayor Woo Bumki articulated that in an era of globalization where culture is increasingly recognized as a significant component of national strength, the CCEA event will serve as an opportunity to lay the foundation for future friendship and cooperation between the four cities in Korea, Japan, and China. Li Gang, the director of Chengdu Media Group, Zhao Dong, the Vice Mayor of Meizhou City, and Tsutomu Ideno, the Deputy Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture also gave congratulatory remarks. 

TCS Deputy Secretary-General Bek Bumhym also delivered a strong message through his congratulatory speech. He evaluated Jeonju as a city with much historical and cultural significance and expressed hope that Jeonju’s unique cultural identity and artistic potential will spread beyond China and Japan to become a global cultural tourism city. He also anticipated that the four selected culture cities from Korea, Japan, and China will expand their mutual understanding and strengthen the East Asian Cultural ties through this opportunity. 

During the opening ceremony, performances by the CCEAs of China (Chengdu, Meizhou), Japan (Shizuoka), and Korea (Jeonju) were staged to promote the culture of each city. Moreover, representatives of each city held a performance with the children to show the spirit of harmony and unity with the keyword “accompany” written on the large shield kite. 

Since 2014, China, Japan, and the ROK have each designated one city as CCEA and have engaged in trilateral cultural exchanges every year following the agreement made at the 4th Trilateral Culture Ministers' Meeting (TCMM) in 2012. In 2023, Jeonju of the ROK, Chengdu and Meizhou of China and Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan were designated as CCEAs.