Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo proposed to visit Edinburgh Lord Provost Robert Aldridge on the 29th and to enhance cultural and science exchanges and cooperation in the future on his last schedule in Edinburgh, England.
The meeting was aimed at listening to the sharing and advice on the Daejeon Zero O'clock Festival (대전 0시 축제) through the 76th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival this year. Mayor Lee also introduced the Daejeon Zero O'clock Festival, which recorded the participation of 1.1 million visitors for seven days, as well as expressed opinions relating to the festival.
Mayor Lee Jang-woo stated his opinion, "I know how big the Edinburgh Festival plays for the development of the city. Throughout the two main biggest days of the festival, the Military Tattoo was very impressive”.
"I hope you received the energy of Edinburgh well. The International Festival is directly paid by the city of Edinburgh. On the contrary, the Fringe Festival is a system in which participants or event organizations prepare from venue rental to others, having approximately 3,000 to 4,000 performers from all over the world", Edinburgh’s Lord Provost Robert Aldridge emphasized.
Meanwhile, the Edinburgh Festival was operated by the private sector, rather than the government-led festival. Besides, the military tattoos, managed by a non-profit organization called "Royal Military Tattoo", are handled by the private promotion committee in the safety sector.
On that day, Daejeon City and Edinburgh City confirmed an agreement that not only could cooperate in the field of festivals, but also in the field of science.
Mayor Lee expressed his aspiration, "Next year, we will start full-fledged cooperation with representative science cities through science and technology forums. Edinburgh is obviously an excellent city that created the Dolly sheep." He stressed, “If we can cooperate together, the synergy will probably occur".
In response, Mayor Robert shared his thoughts, "The city of Edinburgh is putting much of its effort into working to promote science and technology exchanges with various cities through collaboration with the academia. Carbon neutrality is a key area among them. Edinburgh will also actively interact with businesses and academia for a carbon-neutral city by the year 2030".
Nick Langan, an Edinburgh City's international officer remarked, "We are planning to meet with Scottish central government officials on the 30th so we will deliver the meeting content in order to find out effective methods in progressing relations with Daejeon City in the future."
Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo indicated, "It was an honor to meet Robert Aldridge, Lord Provost of a historic city”. He further emphasized, " In the fields of festivals and science, Daejeon City and Edinburgh have many things in common so I’m very looking forward to our interaction".
Mayor Lee will move from Edinburgh to London on the afternoon of the 29th. On the 30th, he will visit the Royal Botanical Garden in Kew and will travel to Stockholm, Sweden after having lunch with the Korean ambassador to the U.K
