Busan is good

Mayor Hur Nam-sik signs Sister City Agreement with Thessaloniki, Greece.

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Busan City signed a sisterhood city agreement with Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece.

Hur Nam-sik, the Mayor of Busan, and Thessaloniki Mayor Vasilis Papageorgopoulos put their signatures to the agreement on March 8 at the City Hall to become sisterhood cities. The two signed a joint declaration promising cooperation and development in economics, culture, tourism, education and private citizen exchanges.

Greece is Korea’s 13^th most important trade surplus country and also the biggest customer for Korea’s shipyards. The country plays an important role as a logistic center of the Balkan Peninsula, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Thessaloniki is the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia and is known as the birthplace of Aristotle. With many ancient ruins such as St. Paul’s Church, the city was designated as the Cultural Capital of Europe in 1997.

Busan City is expected to be able to upgrade its cultural industry through cultural exchanges with one of the most important homes of European Culture and by sharing preservation techniques and principles with Thessaloniki, a city that possesses important ancient ruins.

In addition, in recent years, Korean films have been awarded prizes at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which is well known and boasts a long history. The two cities have many things in common, including the fact that they are the second largest cities in their respective countries and important port cities.  

* Movie director Kim Tae-yong's second film, “Family Ties” (“Gajokeui Tansaeng”), won the Golden Alexander for Best Film at the 47^th Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
* "A Broom Becomes A Goldfish" (“Bitjaru, Geumbungeo Doeda”, Korea, 2008), directed by Kim Dong-joo, was in competition at the 49^th Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
* “Missing Person”, directed by Lee Seo, won the Artistic Achievement Award at the 50^th Thessaloniki International Film Festival in competition

A City Official said. “We plan to carry out education exchanges between Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the largest university in the Balkan Peninsula, and Busan-based universities. And for promotion and support for Busan’s bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics, we will try to utilize the worldwide influence of Thessaloniki as a city so close both geographically and spiritually to the original home of the Olympic Games.”