In response to Chinese President Xi Jinping's "Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road" national development strategy and to enhance the communications in hydraulic industries in Northeastern Asia, the 6th China-Japan-South Korea Water Science Forum was successfully held by the College of New Energy and Environment in Jilin University on December 2-3, 2023.

The forum was co-hosted by Jilin University and the Key Laboratory of River Basin Digital Twinning of Ministry of Water Resources, and co-organized by Chungnam National University in South Korea, Kyungpook National University in South Korea, and Kyoto University in Japan. The theme of the forum was "Digital Twin and Flood Simulation" including an offline invited session and an online broadcasting session.

More than 100 presenters and representatives from universities, research institutes, enterprises and industries in three countries attended the meeting. The online meeting was globally broadcast via Zoom, Wechat, and Voov.

The forum began with a welcoming speech by Professor Xu, Tianfu, the Dean of the College of New Energy and Environment in Jilin University; followed by Professor Wang, Hao, the Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, who explained the importance of in-depth exchanges and discussions among the scientists from the three countries by pointing out that “China, Japan and South Korea, belonging to the monsoon zone with spatiotemporally uneven rain distributions, all suffer from the long-term sever flood disasters during the flooding seasons. In recent years, under the influence of climate change, extreme rain storms occurred more frequently and flooding losses became intensified, so it is very necessary to further strengthen scientific research related to digital twins and flood simulation."

Professor Wang hoped that the scientists from all countries will contribute wisdom, learn from each other, promote exchanges, enhance cooperation, and contribute scientific and technological strengths to building a beautiful and livable earth home and a global community of a shared future.

The offline meeting was moderated by Professor Li, Hongyan, while the online meeting was moderated by Associate Professor Feng, Youcan.

After 7 years development, the China-Japan-South Korea Water Science Forum has achieved a few new milestones in terms of the organizational structure and academic influence.

First, an academic committee has been established, with Prof. Wang, Hao as the chairman, Prof. Xu, Tianfu, Guan, Tiesheng, and Liu, Jiahong as vice chairs.

Second, the forum was jointly hosted by Jilin University and the Key Laboratory of River Basin Digital Twinning of the Ministry of Water Resources this year, which further promoted the professional involvement in the hydrology discipline.

Third, senior experts and young talents in the hydrology and hydraulics from China, Japan, and South Korea gathered to share the latest research progress in the field of digital twins and flood simulations, which elevated the academic quality of the forum.

Fourth, the live broadcast of this forum has been viewed 14,000 times and liked 72,000 times, which breaks the record in 2022 when the forum was viewed by 11,000 times and liked by 20,000 times.

One thing to note is that the series of the forum has a logo for the first time. The inspiration of the logo came from the infinity symbol "∞", which was then transformed into a bond, implying the close connection of water scientists from the three countries and the concept of openness and infinite possibilities.

The series of the forums focus on common research issues in water science in Northeastern Asia, and explored specific paths to optimize the water resources and achieve a better life for mankind.

Figure 1. Dean Xu, Tianfu delivered a welcoming speech.

Figure 2. Academician Wang, Hao delivered a speech.

Figure 3. List of Academic Committee of the China-Japan-South Korea Water Science Forum.

Figure 4. Logo of the China-Japan-South Korea Water Science Forum.

Figure 5. Group photo of the offline participants.

Figure 6. Group photo of experts participating in the offline meeting.

Figure 7. Professor Kenji Kawaike of Kyoto University in Japan gave a speech.

Figure 8. Associate Professor Sunmin Kim of Kyoto University in Japan gave a speech.

Figure 9. Professor Joo-Heon Lee of Joongbu University in South Korea gave a speech.

Figure 10. Professor Giha Lee from Kyungpook National University in South Korea gave a speech.

Figure 9. Professor Joo-Heon Lee of Joongbu University in South Korea gave a speech.