The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism PARK Bo Gyoon together with the Minister of Education, Science and Technology of Japan, Keiko Nagaoka, and the Deputy Minister of the General Administration of Sports of China, Zhou Jinqiang, organized the 4th Korea-Japan-China Sports Ministers’ Meeting and announced the 2023 Seoul Joint Declaration on February 9 (Thur). The joint declaration reflected the experience as the host country of the past Olympic Games and led discussion on further spreading the Olympic spirit and building a sustainable sports environment. This year’s meeting, hosted by Korea, was held as a video conference in consideration of each country's response to COVID-19.

Since the launch of the Korea-Japan-China Sports Ministers' Meeting in 2016, the three countries have adopted “PyeongChang Declaration”, “Tokyo Action Plan”, and “Beijing Joint Statement” respectively through three meetings, adding continuous close cooperation through sports. The “2023 Seoul Joint Declaration” aims to spread the Olympic spirit for the future generations, solidarity for sustainable sports development that encompasses the disabled, the elderly, underdeveloped countries, and the environment, strengthening cooperation in professional sports, anti-doping, sports for all, and sports industries.

In his keynote speech, Minister PARK said, “This meeting is the first ministerial meeting to be held after the three consecutive Olympics in the three countries. He then added, "Now is the time to expand new horizons in sports exchange in Northeast Asia." Furthermore, "Based on the unifying power of sports, the three countries should become leading countries that will lead the field of international community sports in the post COVID-19", he emphasized.

Strengthen cooperation among three countries for successful hosting of 2024 Gangwon Youth Olympics

The three representatives agreed that the goal of the Olympic Movement is to build a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sports activities. In align with the Olympic Movement, the three countries agreed to establish a trilateral consultation channel to share the assets of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to the  future generations and continue cooperation.

In particular, Minister PARK said that next year's 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics will show a world united through K-culture and sports, youth athletes from Korea, Japan, and China will actively participate and compete in a good faith together. The Minister asked for interest and support from Japan and China for the upcoming Games. In response, the two counterparts said they expect the Youth Olympics to be rich cultural Olympics with a variety of events that can provide big spectator experience and cultural experience. Also, China and Japan said that the two countries will work together to make each event a success. The three nations also announced that they will work together to ensure success in each event held in the three countries, including the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games to be held this year and the 25th Tokyo Summer Deaflympics to be held in 2025.

Expand discussion on sports exchanges among the three countries through the “Korea-Japan-China Sports Festival for All”

Minister PARK said, “I hope that the three countries’ exchanges focusing on professional sports will be further expanded to the field of Sports For All” and suggested that the exchanges for sports-for-all, which had been operated between Korea-Japan and Korea-China, will be integrated and organized into the Korea-Japan-China Sports Festival for All. As Japan and China have agreed to the proposal, the three countries are planning to change from next year at the earliest to an international exchange program for sports-for-all in which all three countries participate from invitation/dispatch and to rotate and hold the event among the three countries.

Realize greener, underprivileged-friendly sports environment creating environmental and social values

In particular, at this year’s meeting, the environmental and social values of sports, which were not seen in the previous three meetings, were highly emphasized. These values, which are also specified in the Olympic Charter of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), have recently received high attention from the international sports community. Many countries are introducing eco-friendly elements to the international competitions, and are working to eliminate the blind spots in sports for the socially underprivileged, such as the elderly and the disabled.

“We need a new sports paradigm suitable for the post COVID19,” Minister PARK said. “We need to lead the world in a better direction through sustainable sports that consider the environment and the underprivileged.” Moreover, Minister PARK shared with representatives of the two countries the sustainability strategy of the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics, the Oullim Sports Festival (sports participated by the disabled and non-disabled) and the Bandabi Sports Center, which was built to activate lifetime Para sports in Korea as the legacy of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Games. Accordingly, the representatives of the three countries agreed to work together to establish an environment-friendly sports development system, to create a culture of enjoying sports for the disabled, to develop sports programs for promoting the elderly health, and to establish supporting strategies for the underdeveloped countries.

Based on the discussions during this meeting, the three countries will hold a director-level meeting to regularly review the implementation status of the 2023 Seoul Joint Declaration. The next meeting, the 5th Korea-Japan-China Sports Ministers' Meeting, is scheduled to be held in Japan next year.