Minister Sang-min Lee's Japan Trip: "On-site Visit for Regional Balanced Development"

From the 12th to the 14th in Tokushima Prefecture and Tokyo

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 11th that Minister Lee Sang-min will visit Tokushima Prefecture and Tokyo, Japan, from the 12th to the 14th to review excellent cases of local autonomy and balanced development and to strengthen Korea-Japan cooperation in these fields.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Sang-min Lee. Photo by Yongjun Cho jun21@

First, on the 12th, he plans to examine the excellent case of regional extinction response in Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture, located about 650 km from Tokyo and about 170 km from Osaka. The minister will visit the satellite office of Engawa, one of the 16 information and communication (IT) companies settled in Kamiyama Town, and hold a meeting with local youths.

On the 13th, he will move to Tokyo to visit sites related to hometown tax payment system, disaster prevention and safety, and government office management. Regarding the hometown tax payment system, he plans to visit the Hokusai Museum in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, which was built with funds raised through the system. In addition, he will visit the Tokyo Rinkai Wide-Area Disaster Prevention Park, a comprehensive disaster prevention hub that oversees disaster information and functions as the disaster countermeasure headquarters in the event of an earthquake in Tokyo. Furthermore, he will visit the Central Joint Government Building managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to observe the security situation and emergency evacuation facilities of the Japanese government office.

Meanwhile, he will hold a ministerial-level bilateral meeting with Junji Suzuki, Japan’s Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, to solidify cooperation in the fields of local autonomy and balanced development and discuss ways to establish a sustainable cooperation system between the two countries. Additionally, he will meet with Yoshihide Suga, former Prime Minister and chairman of the Korea-Japan Parliamentary League, and Hiroya Masuda, former Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications and former leader of the private think tank Japan Renaissance Forum.

Minister Lee said, “Regional extinction is a problem faced by both Korea and Japan, and it is time to discover new ideas and policies that can revitalize local areas through cooperation between the two countries,” adding, “We will strive to create regional extinction response policies that can work well in our country by referring to Japan’s cases.”

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