‘Korea-China Youth Exchanges’ program 2010, hosted by the Korea Foundation and organized by Joongang China Institute & Korea China Friendship Association will begin on May 24 and continue through June 1 2010.
The Chinese delegation consisting of Wang Yun Ze, Vice-president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), as a representative of the delegation and 150 prominent young civil servants, primarily from the Chinese central and municipal governments in Beijing, Chongqing, Sichuan, Jilin, Hunan, Xinjiang, in the sectors of politics, diplomacy, economy, culture and journalism, who are expected to play important roles in China in the near future. They are all under 35, in accordance with the program’s thrust of ‘next-generation exchanges’ between Korea and China.
The program has been planned referring to China’s ‘3 good things to neighbor’ policy: harmonies, prosperous, and peaceful; and the delegation will visit Andong, Gyeongju, Pohang, and Jeju, including Seoul firstly.
During this 8-day visit, the delegation will have opportunities to visit the EGG (Experience Green Growth Hall), Seoul TOPIS (Transport Operation and Information Service), Samsung D’light, and T.um (SK Telecom promotion center). In addition to that, they will also participate in special lectures prepared by the MOFAT (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) mainly on the Korea-China relationship related to current and future Korea-China relations, Korea-China diplomacy, and Korean traditional culture and Confucianism respectively.
Aside from these visits, they will also have a meeting with the executives of JCI (Junior Chamber International-Korea) in Incheon, and visit diverse cultural places like the National Museum of Korea, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Hahoe Folk Village in Andong, UNESCO World Heritage site in Gyeongju, Jeju, and China town in Incheon to gain a better understanding of modern and traditional cultural aspects in Korea.
As a follow-up measure after the Korea-China Summit held in Beijing in 2008, the program is focusing its aims at not only enhancing the young generation’s understanding about Korea and friendship, but also establishing future-oriented relations through expanding possible exchanges among next-generation leaders between the nations.
This year, the Korea Foundation plans to invite young-generation leaders from China, 150 persons each, by group for the first and second half of the year, in view of the participants’ specific field of expertise. Moreover, a delegation of 100 Koreans will also be dispatched to China in July 2010. Therefore, the invitation program is expected to be a very meaningful event in terms of starting off two-way exchange genuinely. Through this program, more than 2,000 young people in both countries would benefit from these interactions for five years by 2012.
