Journalists and experts from Korea and Southeast Asian countries will gather for the ASEAN-Korea Media Forum in Seoul next month to discuss ways to promote cultural and socio-cultural exchanges, ASEAN-Korea Centre said Monday.

The forum, which will be held on April 24 at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, kics off a series of events throughout 2019 marking the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-Korea relations, and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN-Korea Centre.

ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary-General Lee Hyuk said the forum will be the first of its kind where some 30 representatives from the ASEAN and Korean media sit together to explore greater partnership for facilitating ASEAN-Korea exchanges.

“This year, marking the 30th Anniversary of the ASEAN-Korea Dialogue Relations, the center seeks to go beyond the ‘one-way’ Korean Wave and bring ‘two-way’ ASEAN-Korean Waves through two-way socio-cultural exchanges between ASEAN and Korea,” Lee said.

The first session of the forum, run under the theme of “Korean Wave in ASEAN: Successful Past and Sustainable Future,” will trace the course of the Korean Wave’s big success in ASEAN and offer suggestion for its sustainable development in the future. The second session, titled “ASEAN Wave in Korea: ASEAN-Korea Two-way Cultural Exchanges,” will explore ways to boost the two-way socio-cultural exchanges between ASEAN and Korea, bringing the ASEAN Wave to Korea.

The Forum, held under the theme “ASEAN and Korean Waves,” is organized by the ASEAN-Korea Centre, The Korea Herald and Maeil Business Newspaper.

The center will host a wide array of events aimed aim providing opportunities for ASEAN and Korean people to better understand each other’s cultures this year. They include the ASEAN Week in June, the ASEAN Train in October, and the ASEAN-Korea Export-Import Fair in November.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)