|
TOKYO -- The South Korea-Japan Friendship Year 2005 officially kicked off on Tuesday at the National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo. The year marks the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Chung Dong-chae represented Korea at a ceremony under the theme ˇ°To the future, together to the worldˇ±. Some 2,500 people took part, including key figures in both governments like Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and Korean Ambassador to Japan Na Jong-il as well as prominent figures from the art and culture worlds.
Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro put in an appearance at a reception to mark the day at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo and stressed the importance of consolidating the friendship between the two countries.
Citing a Japanese proverb, ˇ°A close friend is better than a distant relativeˇ±, Chung urged the two countries to become friends who help each other in times of trouble. Machimura said Japan was evidently embracing Korean culture ? films, music, soap operas ? which was clear from the great popularity the TV drama ˇ°Winter Sonataˇ± enjoyed in his country. ˇ°With this year as a turning point, let us try to get to know each other better and establish a relationship of trust,ˇ± Machimura said.
The opening ceremony featured a parade of traditional Korean dress or hanbok, and performances of traditional Korean music by the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts and the National Theater of Korea. Korean lyrical songs came courtesy of tenor Kim Sang-gon and soprano Park Mi-hye, while Korean pop singer Lee Jung-hyun and boy band Shinhwa as well as Japanese a capella group Rag Fair added a contemporary edge.
At the reception, Chung handed a plaque of appreciation to satellite broadcaster NHK and the International Media Corporation, which played a significant role in broadcasting ˇ°Winter Sonataˇ±, widely thought to have triggered the Korean culture wave in Japan last year.
The opening ceremony for Korea will be held on Thursday at the Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, downtown Seoul. The two countries have agreed on some 40 exchange and cooperation projects in the fields of culture, arts and sports throughout the year.
(Jung Kwon-hyun, khjung@chosun.com )
|
