The Korea Foundation and the Sejong Institute co-organized the first round of the 2018 Korea-Japan Public Diplomacy Symposium at Mindan Building in Kanagawa, Yokohama, Japan, on May 25.

It is meaningful that the Korea-Japan Public Diplomacy Symposium is held in local cities across Japan, thereby making bilateral policy discussions between Korea and Japan organized in various cities other than just Tokyo, the major host city of such discussions so far, and creating an opportunity to have direct contact with local opinion leaders in Japan. A total of three rounds of the symposium are scheduled to be held this year in Yokohama, Aomori and Nagasaki in turn.

The recent symposium in Yokohama dealt with the theme of "New Korea-Japan Relations and Peace in Northeast Asia." It began with opening and congratulatory remarks by Korea Foundation President Lee Sihyung, Sejong Institute President Jin Chang Soo and South Korean Consul-General in Yokohama Lee Myung-ryul. The symposium was composed of presentations on the political situation on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asian peace at Session 1 and roundtable discussions on Korea-Japan cooperation at Session 2.

Presentations were made by Professor Emeritus Chung Jae-jung of the University of Seoul and Professor Osawa Bungo of the Chiba Institute of Science, and discussions by Professor Emeritus Tsunekawa Keiichi of Tokyo University, Professor Kimura Kan of Kobe University, Professor Okuzono Hideki of the University of Shizuoka, Adviser Bae Ki-chan of the Institute for National Security Strategy, Foreign News Editor Sawada Katsumi of the Mainichi Shimbun, Senior Research Fellow Lee Myon-woo of the Sejong Institute, Professor Cho Yun-young of Choong-Ang University, Editorial Writer Hakoda Tetsuya of the Asahi Shimbun, and Research Fellow Woo Jung-yeop of the Sejong Institute. They exchanged their precious opinions on pressing issues in Korea-Japan relations and how to increase cooperation between the two countries.