1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS), will hold the “Trilateral Youth Summit 2018,” to be attended by 30 undergraduate or graduate students from the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the People’s Republic of China, from August 26 till 31.

o The “Trilateral Youth Summit 2018” is a representative youth network building project which has been jointly conducted by the ROK, Japan, and China. The summit, which first took place in 2015 in the ROK, has been hosted every year in rotation by the three countries.

※ The Trilateral Youth Summit was adopted as a trilateral cooperation project at the 7th ROK-Japan-China Foreign Ministers’ meeting in 2015.

o In particular, at the 7th ROK-Japan-China summit held in May this year, the leaders of the three countries adopted a joint declaration, in which they agreed to “strongly support promotion of youth exchanges, and encourage further development of our programs including the Trilateral Youth Summit.”

2. At the upcoming event, students from the three countries will be divided into three groups -- environment (theme: response to fine dust and other air pollution issues), economy (theme: conclusion of a trilateral FTA), and culture (theme: successful hosting of the Olympic Games in Northeast Asia) -- and engage in heated discussions in English. They will also announce a joint declaration based on the results of each group’s discussions.

o Each group will have three teams, each of which consists of one Korean, one Japanese and one Chinese. Discussions among them are expected to help the participants from the three countries better understand each other’s countries.

※ On August 31, the Foreign Minister’s Award will be given to teams that have shown excellent performances during the event.

3. In addition, the young people from the three countries will have the opportunity to better understand the ROK, and to promote unity and friendship through special lectures by experts under the theme of trilateral cooperation, as well as visits to the Demilitarized Zone, and cultural sites, including MBC.

4. The upcoming Trilateral Youth Summit is expected to serve as an opportunity for youth in the ROK, Japan, and China, who will lead future generations, to build networks and explore the possibility of trilateral cooperation.

5. Since 2013, the Foreign Ministry has carried out various projects, including the Trilateral Youth Diplomacy Camp, and the Thesis Competition on Trilateral Cooperation, as part of efforts to build trilateral youth networks. The Ministry will continue to work to establish networks and facilitate exchanges between youth in the three countries.

* unofficial translation