The "OASIS" art festival already known to many art lovers in Japan welcomed its 10th anniversary exhibition in May of 2005 and, in parallel with the domestic exhibition, OASIS exhibitions began to be held in various countries worldwide from that year.

For Japan and South Korea, the year 2005 is also one that commemorates the 40th anniversary of normalization of Japan-South Korea diplomatic relations. In this important year for these two nations, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs developed a variety of exchange and cultural introduction projects in both countries, and the first international version of OASIS, the "2005 OASIS INTERNATIONAL in KOREA", was held in Seoul, South Korea as an officially-sanctioned project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' "Japan-South Korea Friendship Year 2005".

The opening ceremony featured a tape cutting brilliantly performed by 19 guests, including South Korea government officials and persons related to the art world. Greetings were offered by both president Kazuo Noguchi of REIJINSHA, which bore the management responsibilities on the Japan side, and president Yang Kye Tak of the Chung-Jo Fine Arts Group, which handled management in South Korea.

Following that, Kazuo Chujo (Vice Chief, Public Information and Cultural Center, Embassy of Japanese in the Republic of Korea) use a congratulatory address to talk of his hope for this exhibition to serve in deepening the friendship and warmth and in hurdling the current framework of Japan-South Korea relations in the near future, and for it to become a leading presence in the global art world.

Once the opening ended, visitors poured in and invited guests as well traversed the hall. Mr. Tak went around the exhibits with an interpreter, and offered brief but polite reviews to the exhibiting Japanese artists who were in attendance.

In South Korea, the consciousness towards the cultural education of the people is quite high and there were many parents at this event trying to bring their children into contact with genuine art culture from childhood. This was one outstanding indication inside the hall of the attempts by a young generation of art appreciators to remove existing fences and absorb a variety of arts.