By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Culture ministers of Korea, China and Japan agreed Thursday to boost cultural exchanges through various channels.
Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In-chon and his Chinese and Japanese counterparts Cai Wu and Tamotsu Aoki, respectively, adopted the Jeju Declaration in a meeting at the Jeju International Convention Center.
The meeting was designed to seek ways of promoting cultural relations under the theme of ``Intensifying Cooperation in Mutual Cultural Exchange among Korea, China and Japan'' during a three-day meeting, which kicked off Tuesday.
The ministers agreed to make efforts to upgrade human and property exchanges, promote cultural heritage and support the BeSeTo Theater Festival, engaging representatives of the three East Asian countries to establish a regional cultural community.
They also decided to expand youth exchanges via the Internet and beef up the protection of intellectual property rights.
``In other regions, there are political and economic communities. In Asia, let's begin with `cultural Asia','' Yu said in opening remarks before the conference.
Yu suggested that the three nations designate a ``Month of Asian Culture'' by 2012 to attract more tourists from all over the world.
He stressed the necessity for establishing the Asian-Pacific Intangible Cultural Heritage Center and initiating a regular meeting among Asian youth to boost friendship and swap more traditional theatrical performances.
Wu said that amid the global financial crisis, the three countries would achieve co-prosperity through cultural cooperation and exchanges. Aoki also said that Asian countries should be world leaders in cultural arts through their cultural diversity.
After the meeting, the three ministers held a tree-planting ceremony during a walk near the convention center and attended a Korean, Chinese and Japanese concert at a nearby hotel.