By Diplomacy Journal Lee Jon-yung

Jeju City Mayor Kang Byung-sam visited Beppu City, Japan, a city of friendship and cooperation, on April 6 for two days and three nights to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Beppu City Festival and to explore mutual growth through exchanges between the two regions.
 

On April 7, Mayor Kang attended the 100th anniversary ceremony of Beppu City at Beacon Plaza in Beppu to congratulate the city on 100 years of cityhood, and then visited the Beppu Hatto Hot Spring Festival to discuss mutual exchange and cooperation to maintain friendly relations between the two cities.

On April 8, he toured the Kannawa area of Beppu to explore ways to revitalize tourism exchanges between the two cities.

Beppu, Japan's leading hot spring city, has been a friendship and cooperation city with Jeju for more than 20 years.

Since signing an international agreement in 2003 to promote goodwill, friendship, and cooperation, the two cities have been steadily engaged in exchanges and cooperation for mutual development, including visits to representative festivals and tourism and sports exchanges.

"We sincerely congratulate Beppu City on its 100th anniversary," said Jeju City Mayor Kang Byung-sam. "As Jeju City and Beppu City share the commonality of being an international tourist city with natural resources, we hope to open the next 100 years together through continuous exchanges based on the trust and cooperation we have built up over the years."