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`December 18,1995 marks the 30th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan. Korea and Japan formally signed the Korea-Japan Basic Relations Treaty on June 22, 1965, and normailzed their relations on December 18,1965 with the by the parliaments of both countries. Over the three decades since, the two countries have promoted mutual exchanges on all fronts, including the political, economic, culture, and social. On the economic front, Korea`s trade volume with Japan tailied $38.9 billion in 1994, a figure far higher than the meager $200 billion in 1965, and accounted for about 20 percent of its total trade volume. In terms of social excahnge, the past 30 years have seen a sharp increase from the involvement of 10,000 people in 1965 to that of more than 2.7 million in 1994. Thus, Korea and Japan have sought to foster a bilateral friendship and goodwill. The foreign ministers of the two countries, on January 10, 1991, signed a memorandum of understanding to improve the legal statue of the 688,000- Korean contingent residing in Japan and to abolish discrimination agaist them. Looking back on the bilateral relations during the past three decades, now is the time to reassert and reinforce the roles and responsibilities that the two countries will assume in the upcoming Asia-Pacific era of the 21st centry. The Ministry of Information and Communication is issuing a commemorative stamp featuring the ``Miroku Bosatsu (Sanskrit : Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future)``, housed in Koyuji, Kyoto, in collaboration with Japan, in hopes that the 30th anniversary will serve as further inspiration for the two countries to forge a strenthened, future-oriented bilateral relationship through the promotion of substantive exchanges and cooperation.`