Chairman Park Sam-koo of Kumho-Asiana Group, 2nd R, and Chairman Toshihiro Nikai of the All Japan Travel Business Association, 2nd L, are all smiles as they attend an event in the Korea-Japan Friendship Exchange Meeting Feb. 12-14 at Coex and Jamsil Hotel Lotte in Seoul.(Photo:Kumho-Asiana)

Chairman Park Sam-koo of Kumho-Asiana Group is out to improve the worsening relations between Korea and Japan over a number of issues.

Asiana Airlines and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) announced on Feb. 3 that they will host the Korea-Japan Friendship Exchange Meeting at Coex and Jamsil Hotel Lotte in Seoul from Feb. 12-14.

The event — intended to ease the worsening ties between the neighboring countries — has come about based on an agreement between Chairman Park and Chairman Toshihiro Nikai of the All Japan Travel Business Association and member of the Japanese Diet. In February last year they agreed to hold a number of events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the normalization of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Around 1,400 Japanese political leaders and tourist business officials are expected to visit Seoul for the event. Asiana Airlines is to provide discounts airfare for the Japanese participants when they visit Seoul for the event.

The important players in the two countries’ tourism industries are scheduled to meet at the evening on Feb. 14, the last day, to discuss matters related to the tourism exchange between Korea and Japan. Chairman Park, Chairman Nikai, President Byun Chu-seok of Korea Tourism Organization, Minister Shigero Kubo of the Japan Tourism Agency, Minister Kim Jong-deok of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will meet head-to-head to talk about the measures to bring the two countries closer in their relationship through the exchange of tourists and tourism events.

Chairman Park and Chairman Nikai took advantage of their close friendship and trust over many years to realize the event. Over 200 Japanese guests, led by Chairman Nikai, came to Seoul to attend a concert by the NHK Symphony Orchestra in June last year sponsored by Kumho-Asiana Group. The symphony performed in Seoul for the first time in eight years. NHK Symphony brought the audience to tears when it played a special number to console the families who lost their children and relatives on the Sewol, the ship that tragically sunk on April 16 last year with over 300 passengers, mostly high school students from Incheon and the nearby areas, on the way to Jeju Island for vacation.

This being the 25th year since the airline launched its first flight to Japan, plans to hold various celebrations, including events in four cities in Japan, where the airline operates flight services. The cities include Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sendai and Tokyo. The events include travel stories in those cities through events, and “2-ri-5-onora” events for Japanese travel writers.

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