Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung will exchange televised messages on New Year's Day, kicking off a series of Japan-South Korea exchange projects, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.

Japan and South Korea cohost the World Cup soccer finals from May 31 to June 30 and are using the tournament to boost cultural ties.

In mid-January, the Korean language will for the first time be added to the list of foreign languages tested in Japan's national university entrance exams. Kim and former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori agreed on the inclusion when Kim visited Japan in 2000.

Japan will set up programs to train 170 teachers of the Japanese language in South Korea, the official said. Of the 2.1 million students studying Japanese around the globe, 950,000 are in South Korea, according to 1998 government statistics.

Some 128 commemorative cultural projects have already been planned, the official said, adding the number is expected to reach more than 200.

The cultural projects include a performances in Seoul on Jan. 21 by drumming groups from Japan and South Korea, and traditional dance performances from each country to be held in Tokyo on Jan. 28.

Music concerts, screenings of jointly produced movie and television programs, industrial expos, and youth and sports exchanges are also planned.

"We hope that these events will boost bilateral friendship next year, despite the various problems that we faced this year," the official said.