On April 24, Gyeonggi Province Governor Dong Yeon Kim met with Liaoning Provincial Party Secretary Hao Feng at Dodamso (former gubernatorial residence of Gyeonggi Province) and vowed to take cooperation between Gyeonggi and Liaoning to a new level and strengthen practical cooperation in key areas.

This is the second time the two have met. During his visit to Liaoning Province last October, Governor Kim met with Party Secretary Hao to discuss cooperation between the two regions. Governor Kim actively requested that Party Secretary Hao visit Gyeonggi Province at that time, and the visit took place more than six months later.

“It is so good to see you again. Six months ago, I said that we became friends after our first meeting, and I’m happy to see that our friendship has deepened and the relationship between Gyeonggi Province and Liaoning Province has become even stronger… I hope we will remain friends for a long time and do more for China and Korea,” said Governor Kim, expressing his happiness.

“I am pleased to see the progress made on the issues we discussed six months ago. With today’s in-depth cooperation agreement, I look forward to further cooperation between Liaoning Province and Gyeonggi Province,” he added.

“This is the first visit by a Party Secretary of Liaoning Province in over 10 years. I was so impressed by the hospitality,” Party Secretary Hao responded. “I hope to further strengthen the 31 years of achievements between Liaoning Province and Gyeonggi Province, and take cooperation in the fields of economy, science, trade, industry, culture and humanities to the next level.”

Party Secretary Hao then officially invited Governor Kim to attend the Summer Davos Forum to be held in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, in June and the Liaoning Province Trade and Investment Expo in September, asserting “We sincerely hope you will attend.”

On the same day, the two leaders signed an agreement to deepen exchanges and cooperation between Gyeonggi Province and Liaoning Province, including improving the business environment for enterprises, expanding investment and business cooperation, strengthening exchanges and cooperation between enterprises and institutions in industries such as manufacturing, scientific and technological innovation and modern agriculture, and expanding cultural, sports, tourism and educational exchanges.

Following the signing of the agreement to deepen cooperation, an agricultural science and technology exchange agreement and a university exchange agreement were signed. Sung Je-hoon, Director of the Agricultural Technology Institute of Gyeonggi Province, and Sui Guomin, Director of the Agricultural Sciences Institute of Liaoning Province, agreed to expand joint research on cultivation and pest control technologies, agricultural products and soil safety, and also to promote information and people-to-people exchanges between the two organizations. Lim Kyung-sook, President of Suwon University, and Zhao Hengxin, Secretary of the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, signed a university-level agreement to promote student and faculty exchanges, music and art performances, and academic exchanges between the two schools.

After the meeting, the Party Secretary and accompanying members of the Liaoning delegation, the Chinese Ambassador to Korea, the Chair of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly and members of Gyeonggi’s business, cultural and academic communities attended a dinner to strengthen cooperation between Gyeonggi Province and Liaoning Province.

“Liaoning Province has been a long-time friend of Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly, and the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly has maintained close ties with Liaoning Province since the establishment of parliamentary friendship ties 30 years ago… Exchanges and cooperation between the governments and legislative bodies of the two provinces will be a driving force for the common development of Korea and China and the happiness of their peoples,” said Yeom Jong-hyun, Chair of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly, who attended the dinner.

Gyeonggi Province established a sisterhood relationship with Liaoning Province in 1993, the year after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Korea. Since then, it has been actively engaged in collaboration initiatives such as the establishment of the Gyeonggi Business Center (GBC) in Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning Province, to support the export marketing of Gyeonggi’s small and medium-sized enterprises. Gyeonggi has also engaged in tourism exchanges, inviting the Liaoning Ballet to perform, and exchanging officials. In January of this year, Governor Kim met with Liaoning Governor Li Leqing at the Davos Forum to discuss ways to further bilateral cooperation.

This year, various exchange and cooperation events will be held, including a promotional tour for Liaoning provincial government and tourism industry representatives to promote Gyeonggi Province tourism in June, a tri-regional youth sports exchange tournament between Gyeonggi Province, Liaoning Province and Kanagawa Prefecture in August, and an exhibition of artifacts from the Liaoning Provincial Museum in December.