By Baek Byung-yeul
Cho Yoon-Sun, Korea’s sports minister, will meet her counterparts from China and Japan in PyeongChang, the host city of the 2018 Winter Olympics, to discuss ways to boost cooperation in sports, Thursday and Friday.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) said Tuesday that Cho has set a meeting with Liu Peng, director of China’s State General Administration of Sports, and Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan’s minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, to seek their cooperation.
The MCST added the meeting will be held as President Park Geun-hye, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed to “promote trilateral exchanges to enhance sports cooperation and share experiences” at a meeting in Seoul last November.
The three sports ministers will share their plans for hosting the Olympic Games, as Japan will host the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, two years after Korea stages the PyeongChang Winter Games in 2018, and before China hosts the 2022 Winter Games. This is the first time for the ministers of the three East Asian countries to gather in one place to discuss sports, according to the MCST.
“Korea, Japan and China have had ministerial meetings to discuss cooperation in the culture and tourism sectors, but this is the first time to have that sort of meeting for sports,” the MCST said.
During the meeting, the ministers discussed how to successfully host the Olympic Games as well as ways to create an Olympic legacy and help develop the sports industry.
Prior to the ministerial meeting, Cho will also hold one-on-one talks with Liu and Matsuno. During the Korea-China talks, she will ask for cooperation in the Olympic Games including the anti-doping system. The two will also check the progress of their joint sports festivals.
With Japan, she will discuss their cooperation plans to connect the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games, the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. They will also discuss ways to expand mutual exchanges in sports programs for the elderly.
After the meeting, the three ministers will sign a joint declaration and attend a ceremonial torch-lighting event for the success of the Olympic Games.