Seoul played host to the third Korea-Portugal Culture Commission on June 20. The president of the Lisbon-based Camoes Institute, Ana Paula Laborinho (left), and Director Choi Young-sam of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shake hands following the signing of an agreement to expand bilateral cultural exchanges between 2016 and 2019.
The governments in Seoul and Lisbon have agreed to expand cultural exchanges and cooperation, especially in languages, arts, education, science, technology, media, sports and youth-oriented policies.
On June 20, the two sides signed an agreement to increase cultural exchanges and bilateral cooperation across these sectors, starting this year and stretching into 2019. The signing came during the third Korea-Portugal Culture Commission recently held in Seoul.
With the agreement, the two sides will work on a series of joint projects that aim to boost mutual cooperation in such areas as languages, the arts, performances, publishing, cinema, and, also, to bring related organizations in both countries closer together.
In the education sector, Korea and Portugal will work closely to increase human-to-human exchanges by enhancing cooperation between educational bodies and by funding more scholarships and exchange student programs. In terms of science and technology, they will join forces to develop programs designed at fostering more human interchanges and related activities.
More cooperative efforts will also be made in media. The two governments pledged to revitalize bilateral exchanges with broadcasting content and digital technologies. Lastly, they agreed to further enhance cooperation across sports by encouraging each side to take part in major sporting events to be held in each other’s countries, as well as to engage in more activities to get a better understanding of each other’s youth-oriented policies.
Seoul and Lisbon have continued to expand bilateral cooperation across various areas of mutual interest ever since they inked their first agreement to boost cultural exchanges in 1990. Since 2010, meanwhile, they have held the Korea-Portugal Culture Commission every three years with the goal of expanding areas of mutual cooperation.
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
jiae5853@korea.kr
