1. The 6th Republic of Korea-People’s Republic of China public diplomacy forum, co-hosted by the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and co-organized by the Korea Foundation and the China Public Diplomacy Association, will take place in Yancheng, China, on December 5.

2. The upcoming forum will bring together government officials, academics, businesspeople, and people from the media of the two countries, including Ambassador for Public Diplomacy of the ROK Foreign Ministry Bahk Sahng-hoon, President of the Korea Foundation Lee Si-hyung, President of the 21st Century ROK-China Exchange Association Kim Han-kyu, Deputy Director-General of the Information Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Li Minggang, former Minister of the State Council Information Office of China Zhao Qizheng, and Vice President of the China Public Diplomacy Association Hu Zhengyue. They will exchange views on ways to enhance friendship and mutual trust between the two countries.

3. The forum will consist of three discussion sessions under the themes “creating strategic consensus between the ROK and China through political communications,” “opening the future of the ROK and Chinese economies together through substantive cooperation,” and “strengthening emotional consensus through exchanges in the private sector.” On the sidelines of the forum, people from the media of the two countries will hold a meeting to discuss ways to increase media cooperation between the two countries, as well as consensus between the people of the two countries.

o At the forum, the two sides will assess the progress in stepping up exchanges and cooperation between the two countries made since the two countries announced the results of their consultations on improvements in the ROK-China relations in late October last year. The forum is also expected to contribute to building broader consensus between the two countries on the progress in the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.

4. The ROK-China public diplomacy forum, a track-1.5 consultative mechanism launched under the agreement reached between the leaders of the two countries during their summit in June 2013, aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the two countries, and to raise their awareness of each other. The forum has been held every year since 2013, and is developing into a useful channel for dialogue on public diplomacy between the two countries.

* unofficial translation