Japan, China and South Korea briefly put aside territorial and historical disputes yesterday for rare trilateral talks announcing a bid to boost tourism numbers in the three nations to 30 million visitors in five years.
Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Akihiro Ota met with counterparts Li Jinzao (李金早) of the China National Tourism Administration and South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jong-deok in Tokyo, Jiji Press and Kyodo news agency said.
The meeting — the first by tourism ministers of the three nations in four years, Jiji reported — came ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea and Japan’s 2020 Summer Olympics.
Photo: AFP PHOTO / JIJI PRESS
The three ministers agreed to set a goal of raising the number of visitors between them to 30 million in 2020 from about 20 million last year, the news reports said.
The ministers also sought to work together to launch a “Visit East Asia” campaign to attract tourists from other countries during events such as the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2020, they said.
The three separately called for measures to prevent problems arising from different daily habits and to ensure the safety of tourists, Kyodo said.
Beijing and Tokyo have similar issues, and the disputes are being highlighted as the region prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan held talks in Seoul last month and pledged to work toward a trilateral leadership summit at “the earliest” opportunity, but observers say such a meet is unlikely in the short term.
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