Jang Ha-sung, Ambassador to China, 2021-2022 Year of Korea-China Cultural Exchange

New Plans for Korea-China Exchanges Established After COVID-19

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Jang Ha-sung, the South Korean Ambassador to China, announced that he will establish a new Korea-China exchange plan to prepare for the post-COVID-19 era.

At a regular briefing on the 30th, Ambassador Jang said regarding the changes in Korea-China relations following Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister's visit to Korea, "There were various discussions during Minister Wang's visit, but the main content was to accelerate economic and cultural exchange cooperation," adding, "Since the two countries agreed to designate 2021 and 2022 as the years of Korea-China cultural exchange, exchanges between the two countries will become more active."

Jang Ha-sung, Ambassador of Korea to China (Photo by Beijing Correspondents)

Ambassador Jang continued, "Once COVID-19 vaccines are supplied, movement between the two countries will also become freer," emphasizing, "With the supply of vaccines, we plan to expand cultural and human exchanges and carry out exchange activities between the two countries in line with the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics."

He explained, "The situation before and after the COVID-19 pandemic will be completely different," and added, "We will not simply resume projects that could not be carried out this year, but will prepare entirely new plans."

Regarding China's recent strengthening of quarantine standards for arrivals from Korea, Ambassador Jang said, "Currently, China requires polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and serological tests for arrivals from Korea," explaining, "This measure is not an exceptional targeting of Korea but an application of quarantine measures previously applied to other countries."

He said, "Before this measure was implemented, only some countries such as Korea, New Zealand, and Cambodia were exempted from serological tests," and added, "Our quarantine authorities have also been preparing for serological tests in response to China's requirements."

Regarding China's paocai international standardization organization (ISO) certification, Ambassador Jang stated, "The ISO certification document clearly includes the phrase 'does not correspond to kimchi,'" calling reports to the contrary misinformation. He further added that it seems the Chinese state-run media Global Times misreported an article written by a small media outlet.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.