July 23, 2014
Official visit to Seoul (Meeting with the Mayor of Seoul)
At the invitation of Tokyo's friendship city, Seoul, ROK, Governor Masuzoe is on an official visit to the city from July 23 to 25, 2014.
On Wednesday, July 23, after laying flowers at a memorial alter for the victims of the Sewol Ferry tragedy set up at Seoul City Hall, the governor met with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. Tokyo and Seoul have built up friendly relations since becoming friendship cities in 1988. In order to gain even more practical benefits from this relationship, at the conclusion of the meeting the governor and mayor signed a memorandum of understanding confirming the implementation of close exchange and cooperation in the areas of urban safety, environmental measures, welfare and public health, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and sports exchange, industry and tourism exchange, and cultural exchange.
At the signing of the agreement, Governor Masuzoe said, "To establish a firm relation of friendship between Seoul, the capital of our friend and neighbor, the Republic of Korea, and Tokyo, the capital of Japan… There are many areas where we can cooperate in addressing common challenges such as problems concerning the environment, social welfare, trash, and traffic congestion. I believe we are entering the age where cities compete and cooperate with each other. I think we have to build a win-win relationship together, in which both our cities grow through competition. We have taken the first step toward this today, and by deepening cooperative relations between the residents of Seoul and Tokyo, I expect, and am confident, that the outcomes of such bonds will gradually lead to the improvement of overall relations between Japan and the ROK. Along with Mayor Park I plan to dedicate all possible efforts along this line."
