SEONGNAM — Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin met with Nagoya Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa to discuss ways to expand cooperation between the two cities.
According to the city of Seongnam on the 26th, the mayor met with Hirosawa at Nagoya City Hall the previous day and discussed shared policy interests, including responses to a super-aged society, healthcare and elderly care policy, advanced industries and urban development strategies.
Hirosawa said interest in Korea runs high among Nagoya residents, noting that Korea-related festivals are held in the city every year. "I look forward to good competition with Korea at the Asian Games, which begin in Nagoya on September 19," he said.
He added that Nagoya has maintained ties with Seongnam through student exchanges and other programs, and expressed hope that cooperation would expand into a wider range of fields.
Shin responded that Nagoya is Japan's third-largest city and the industrial and economic hub of the country's central region. He said he hoped Seongnam and Nagoya could broaden their human, economic and cultural exchanges to contribute to the development of both cities and both countries.
The two mayors noted that Nagoya has grown on a manufacturing base spanning automobiles, aerospace and machinery, while Seongnam has developed around advanced technology and innovative industries. On that basis, they agreed to continue exploring various avenues of cooperation, including in industry and the economy.
Shin and the city delegation then visited Vantelin Dome Nagoya, the home stadium of the Chunichi Dragons, one of Japan's premier professional baseball clubs. Seongnam plans to reflect the facility operations observed during the tour in its future plans to build and run a baseball stadium.
Shin visited Nagoya from the 23rd to the 25th, touring home-care medical institutions and long-term care facilities to examine Japan's integrated healthcare and nursing system and its home-based care practices.
