TCS

On December 19, 2024, Deputy Secretary-General YAN Liang attended the 4th Trilateral Sports Media Forum in Gangneung, Republic of Korea. The forum, hosted by Gangwon-do Province and Gangwon-do Minilbo, aims to explore new avenues for collaboration building on the Olympic legacies among the three countries. Gangwon-do Minilbo President KYUNG Min-hyun, Gangwon-do Governor KIM Jin-tae and Gangwon-do Council Chairman KIM Si-sung as well as three countries representatives from sports and media sector attended the forum. YAN Liang said that in his remarks, the three sides reached a consensus to further strengthen sports exchanges and cooperation in the 5th Trilateral Sports Ministers Meeting, include collaborative efforts to guarantee the success of significant upcoming events, including the 9th Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025 and the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026. A succession of international sports events across the three countries has created valuable opportunities to enhance mutual understanding and foster stronger collaboration. YAN Liang highlighted the media’s vital role in fostering exchanges among the three countries by blending shared sentiments with emotional connections. He called for collaboration among media to showcase culture, share stories, promote exchanges, build trust, and dispel doubts among their peoples.

The Award Ceremony of 2024 Korea-Japan-China Postcard Drawing Contest was held on December18, 2024, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ROK. The contest gathered CJK students to showcase cultural elements of each other’s country through drawings on a postcard.TCS Secretary-General LEE Hee-sup delivered congratulatory remarks at the ceremony, thanking the winners for their contributions to trilateral cooperation. He emphasized that exchange among younger generations fosters trust and friendship, which serve as foundations for trilateral cooperation.Mr. KIM Sang-hoon, Deputy Director of the Asian and Pacific Bureau of the ROK MOFA, Mr. KAWASE Kazuhiro, Director of the Public Information and Cultural Center, Embassy of Japan, and Ms. LIU Yaohong, Deputy Director of the China Cultural Center in Seoul also attended the ceremony to deliver remarks.

On December 15, 2024, the 17th Tripartite Health Ministers’ Meeting(THMM) was held in Tokyo, Japan. Chaired by Minister FUKUOKA Takamaro of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, the Meeting was attended by Vice Minister PARK Minsoo of Ministry of Health and Welfare of the ROK, Minister LEI Haichao of National Health Commission of China, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Saia Ma’u Piukala, and Secretary-General LEE Hee-sup of Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat. In his remarks, SG LEE highlighted the critical role of health cooperation and addressing demographic challenges, such as low birth rates and aging societies, as priority areas identified at the 9th Trilateral Summit. He emphasized the need for closer collaboration among public health institutions, building on the "Joint Statement on Future Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response" adopted during the Summit. The meeting agenda focused on three key themes: 1) Ensuring Public Health Security, 2) Promoting Healthy Ageing, 3) Building More Resilient, Equitable, and Sustainable Health Systems to Achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Within these themes, the three ministers shared policy experiences addressing global health crises such as emerging infectious diseases and population aging. The discussions highlighted the need for enhanced multilayered cooperation to ensure health security in the Asia-Pacific region.The meeting concluded with the adoption of the Joint Statement of the 17th Tripartite Health Ministers’ Meeting, reaffirming the countries’ commitment to collaboration. The ministers also signed the updated Memorandum of Cooperation and Joint Action Plan, prioritizing the efforts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to pandemics and infectious diseases of mutual concern with significant potential impacts.Since its inception in 2006, the Tripartite Health Ministers’ Meeting has served as a cornerstone of trilateral health cooperation. The next meeting, the 18th, is scheduled to be held in Korea in 2025.▲Group Photo▲SG Lee delivering remarks▲Joint Press Conference▲Minister Fukuoka and SG Lee

On December 15, 2024, TCS Deputy Secretary-General YAN Liang attended the 5th Trilateral Sports Ministers Meeting (TSMM) as an observer. Mrs. ABE Toshiko Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan led the meeting with Mr. ZHANG Jiasheng Vice Minister of General Administration of Sports of China and Mr. CHOI Bo Keun Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of ROK in attendance. The ”2024 Tokyo Joint Statement” has been signed reflecting the shared commitment of the three countries to deepen sports-related cooperation. The statement outlines two core objectives. 1) Promotion of sports exchange and cooperation among the three countries. The three sides will strengthen cooperation and knowledge sharing for upcoming international games, anti-doping, people-to-people exchange for high performance sports, and prevention of harassment toward athletes. They will also continuously support youth exchange through sports in occasions such as the China-Japan-Korea Junior Exchange Games and the China-Japan-Korea Youth Winter Sports Exchange. 2) Enhancement of the socio-economic value of sports among the three countries and Asia.The three countries have shared their commitment to promote health and wellbeing through sports, realize a symbiotic society through para-sports, and develop the sports industry and sports tourism. The three countries agreed to further enhance sports exchange and cooperation for peace and sustainable development among the three countries and the Asian region. The 6th Trilateral Sports Ministers Meeting will be held in 2026 in China.▲Signing of the “2024 Tokyo Joint Statement”▲Minister ABE Toshiko, Vice Minister ZHANG Jiasheng, Deputy Minister CHOI Bo Keun▲Remarks by the ministries▲DSG YAN Liang attending the meeting as an observer