Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijeong: "Will Actively Engage in Friendship Promotion Projects with Sendai City, Japan"

20th Anniversary Sister City Partnership: Video Conference with Sendai Mayor

Exploring New Cooperation Strategies in the With-Corona Era

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Kang Gijeong, mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held a video conference with Mayor Kazuko Goori of Sendai City, Japan, at City Hall on the morning of the 17th to mark the 20th anniversary of the sister city relationship and agreed to actively promote friendly cooperation projects for the development of both cities.

Gwangju and Sendai established their sister city relationship in 2002 and have exchanged in various fields such as sports, education, culture, and welfare.

As both cities have entered a phase of stabilization from COVID-19 and are moving toward the recovery of daily life, they decided to seek new cooperation plans to expand human and economic exchanges.

On this day, Mayor Kang said, “Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of the sister city relationship. Gwangju is growing as a representative city of artificial intelligence (AI) and is the Asian Cultural Center city, a hub of culture and arts, as well as a living educational site for the study and globalization of democracy, including the May 18 Democratic Movement.”

He continued, “To realize Gwangju as a shining opportunity city for tomorrow, I want to expand exchanges with Sendai City continuously and in new ways,” and requested, “Please join us as an unwavering partner for mutual growth through human exchanges and economic cooperation.”

He also stated, “The deputy mayor of Sendai City and a performance troupe will visit Gwangju to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the sister city relationship, and in December, the Sendai City e-sports representative team will be invited to the Korea-US-Japan sister city e-sports competition held in Gwangju,” adding, “I hope this will contribute to enhancing cultural competitiveness and mutual understanding between the sister cities.”

In addition, Gwangju City will hold an exhibition commemorating the 20th anniversary of the sister city relationship on the first floor of City Hall and plans to dispatch a Gwangju delegation to Sendai in December.

Kazuko Goori, mayor of Sendai City, Japan, said, “Over the past 20 years, the popularity of Korean culture such as dramas, K-POP, and food has increased significantly in Japan, and interest in exchanges between the two cities is also growing,” and added, “I look forward to active exchanges in various ways, including expanding human exchanges.”

Mayor Goori also invited Mayor Kang to visit the ‘The 40th National Urban Greening Fair in Sendai’ to be held in Sendai City in April next year.

The greening fair, aimed at creating an eco-friendly urban ecosystem, is the largest of its kind in Japan and offers abundant nature-friendly attractions such as flowers and trees.

Sendai is the political, economic, scientific, and cultural center of the Tohoku region in Japan and was recently selected as a national global MICE city, focusing on attracting international conferences, academic meetings, and tourism.

Meanwhile, on the 19th, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the sister city relationship, Deputy Mayor Shinichi of Sendai City and others will visit Gwangju to attend the Gwangju World Kimchi Festival. The Sendai traditional performance troupe will perform the traditional dance ‘Chamsae Dance’ twice at the Gwangju World Kimchi Festival and other events.

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