Korea-Japan-China Student Exchanges Intensify... Education Ministers Issue Joint Declaration After 4 Years 5 Months

"Sharing Education Policies, Encouraging Student Exchanges"

The education ministers of Korea, Japan, and China met for the first time in four years and five months to announce a joint declaration on educational innovation.

On the 15th, the Ministry of Education announced that it held the 4th Korea-Japan-China Education Ministers' Meeting at The-K Hotel in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The Korea-Japan-China Education Ministers' Meeting is a trilateral ministerial consultative body led by Korea, established after the 6th Korea-Japan-China Summit in 2015 to discuss educational cooperation among the three countries.

The meeting is hosted in rotation by Korea, Japan, and China. This meeting was held for the first time in four years and five months since the 3rd Education Ministers' Meeting held in China in 2020 due to COVID-19. It is the first time in eight years that the Korea-Japan-China Education Ministers' Meeting has been held in Korea since the 1st meeting in 2016. Attending the meeting were Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education of Korea; Moriyama Masahito, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan; Huai Jinpeng, Minister of Education of China; and Lee Hee-seop, Secretary-General of the Korea-Japan-China Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS).

After the meeting, the three ministers announced the "2024 Korea-Japan-China Joint Declaration on Educational Innovation." In the declaration, the three countries stated, "We have decided to share digital education policies and best practices to systematically promote digital transformation across all areas of education." They further emphasized, "To respond quickly and effectively to concerns associated with the use of technology such as digital divides, cybersecurity, and safety, we agreed to share fundamental principles to be applied in digital education and to cooperate in exploring various solutions."

The three countries also stated, "We will encourage exchanges among elementary, middle, and high school students, mutual visits, and cultural experiences, and support various activities such as youth sports and cultural events to promote understanding and friendship."

Meanwhile, prior to the trilateral Korea-Japan-China meeting, bilateral meetings between Korea and Japan and between Korea and China were also held. In the Korea-Japan bilateral meeting, the two countries mainly discussed ways to revitalize Korea-Japan human exchanges, share and cooperate on policies to address low birth rates and regional extinction, and ways to activate the Korea-Japan University Presidents Forum.