District signs cultural and youth exchange MOUs with Tuzla and Yalova; delegation benchmarks Istanbul's Rami Library and SALT Galata as models for community cultural facilities
A delegation from Seoul's Eunpyeong-gu visited Turkey from Oct. 6 to Oct. 12 at the official invitation of the Universal Kids Film Festival (UKFF), signing cultural and youth exchange MOUs with two Turkish cities and touring Istanbul's multipurpose cultural facilities to study their operations, the district said.
The visit came after Eunpyeong-gu — which hosts the Seoul International Children's Film Festival — received a formal invitation from the UKFF. The trip was designed to expand cultural, artistic and youth exchanges with Turkish cities through children's cinema as a shared platform, and to broaden the district's international network for developing local cultural infrastructure.
The delegation first visited Tuzla and Yalova, the two cities hosting the festival, and signed MOUs with each to promote cultural and youth exchange. Under the agreements, Eunpyeong-gu plans to develop cultural programs for children and young people with both cities and build a framework for cooperation in film and visual arts.
During the festival, the delegation attended official UKFF events and exchanged views on international cooperation with representatives of the European Children's Film Association and the International Children's and Youth Film Centre. They also met with officials from children's film festivals in other countries — including the Zlin International Film Festival for Children and Youth in the Czech Republic, the Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival in Norway, and the Nelson Mandela Children's Film Festival — to discuss global trends in children's cinema, jury criteria and festival management.
The delegation also observed the UKFF's youth filmmaking program, in which young participants produce and screen a short film each year, and agreed to explore ways to incorporate a similar initiative into the Seoul International Children's Film Festival.
The visit also included a meeting with Korean War veterans and their families. At the festival's opening ceremony, the spouse of one veteran presented the delegation with a memoir she had written, titled "Memories of a Soldier's Wife," along with a collection of poetry. The delegation also held a separate meeting with a veteran who turned 105 this year.
The delegation then visited two of Istanbul's landmark multipurpose cultural spaces — the Rami Library and SALT Galata — meeting with their directors and staff to learn about facility operations and citizen-participation programs. Eunpyeong-gu plans to apply the insights to upcoming cultural facility projects in the district, including a next-generation library in Susaek.
"The UKFF's invitation and the MOUs with Turkish cities will serve as a cultural foundation for Eunpyeong's children and youth to step onto the world stage," District Mayor Kim Mi-kyung said. "We will do our best to actively incorporate best practices — such as those from the Rami Library — so that every resident can enjoy a high standard of culture."
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