A delegation led by Gyeonggi Provincial Governor Sohn Hak-kyu official visited Kanagawa Prefecture (Kanagawa-ken), a sister region of the province from Oct. 20th to Oct. 22nd. 

In return Kanagawa Governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa’s will visit Gyeonggi Province in April to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of their sisterhood and the opening of the Third Gyeonggi Province World Ceramic Exposition Foundation (WOCEF). The delegation will meet with the governor and the chairman of the prefecture’s assembly and join the opening ceremony of “the October Festival” held for Koreans living in the Kanto region. Other activities include press interviews with major papers of Japan such as the Daily Yomiuri and Nihon Keizai Shimbun and meetings with CEOs of high-tech companies in the area to attract investment. 

An official at the Gyeonggi provincial office said Governor Sohn would sign an agreement to promote and enhance exchanges between the two regions including exchanges among young students by establishing a sisterhood between their middle and high schools, exchanges between sub-regions and city governments, human resources and technology exchanges among companies, and cultural and tourism exchanges led by some initiatives like the Hallyuwood project. Hallyu is a Korean word meaning Korean boom. 

By exchanging visits of delegations led by the heads of the two regions, Gyeonggi Province hopes that they will further strengthen their friendship and cooperation to a great extent. 

Especially, this visit is expected to facilitate formation of new sisterhoods among high schools and regional municipalities starting with the sisterhood establishment between the city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province and the city of Hadano, Kanagawa-ken scheduled for the first day of the visit. 

Governor Sohn will take this visit as an opportunity to attract high-tech companies to Gyeonggi Province. His tight schedule as usual includes closing MOUs between two companies producing LCD parts, investment consulting for a top Japanese semiconductor manufacturer, and other passionate investment attraction activities. 

He will also spend some time attending the opening of “October Festival” to deliver congratulatory remarks and appreciation to the organizers at the Korean Residents Union in Japan MINDAN for putting together a historic event for Koreans living in Kanto. The festival will be held at the “Korea Park” in the Mitsuike Park, Yokohama, a park founded as a tribute to the friendship of the two regions in 1994. The event will not only contribute to a stronger friendship between the two regions but will make Korean participants feel proud of their motherland. 

Gyeonggi Province and Kanagawa-ken have a lot in common. Both provinces are some major industrial regions adjacent to each nation’s capital city and have a similar amount of residents. Since they become sisters in April 1990, they have been actively engaged in activities of exchange spanning widely from economics, sports and cultural initiatives to exchanges between officials.