Attorney Tom Jennings said he was just looking to brush up on his Russian when he got involved in Citizen Diplomacy’s cultural exchange program in 1998. The Jennings have opened their home to more than three dozen visitors “and deal with many others,” said Tom.“The stories could go on forever, but the central theme is it’s an opportunity available to people in our area. Citizen Diplomacy is peacemaking at the retail level, one handshake at a time,” he said.

Since the beginning of the year, Japan’s official relations with the Korean Peninsula have gone from bad to worse.With South Korea, the past continues to plague the bilateral relationship.[...] Only last month did Tokyo return the Japanese ambassador to Seoul after he was withdrawn in January to protest a comfort women statue in Busan. [...] Yet one option to repair relations with South Korea, and perhaps even make some headway with North Korea, seems obvious if you are in Kansai: Use Japan’s Korean community as an unofficial diplomatic channel of communication.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have sent their congratulations to the China-Australia Year of Tourism 2017, which was officially launched in Sydney on Sunday. In his congratulatory message, Li said people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the Chinese and Australian people is one of the important pillars supporting the development of bilateral relations.

A delegation of NFL players will arrive in Israel next week as part of a campaign to showcase the country's "true face" to the world, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced on Sunday. The delegation will arrive next Monday as part of a joint initiative between the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, also headed by Erdan, and the Tourism Ministry.

Hosted by the Korean Cultural Center in China with support from institutions including the Embassy of the ROK in China, Korea Cultural Performance Day was unveiled on Monday in Beijing. [...] Han Jae-heuk, head of the Korean Cultural Center in China, pointed out at the opening that the performance was a good opportunity for person-to-person cultural exchange between South Korea and China.