Print logo

Forum
19th German-Korean Forum Meets Online

For Germany and Korea, 2020 is a year of round numbers. While 30 years of German unity are a reason to be grateful, the 70 years since the beginning of the Korean War postulate a sad memory. The continuing inter-Korean tensions should be a reason for all of us to work together as a free and democratic country for reconciliation and peace on the Korean peninsula and to overcome its division.

Originally planned for October 14-17 at Jeju, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 19th German-Korean Forum and the 9th German-Korean Junior Forum had to be postponed to 2021. In order to value the importance of the bilateral exchange between the two countries, a German-Korean Special Forum took place online via Zoom on October 16th. While Dr. Seliger attended the Senior Forum, our intern Hannah Grüttgen took part in the Junior Forum.

 

The Senior Forum started with opening speeches and greetings from the three chairmen of the German-Korean Forum, Dr. Geun Lee, Mr. Young-Jin Kim and Mr. Hartmut Koschyk. While Mr. Koschyk expressed his regret about the unavoidable cancellation of the forum, he also emphasized the rapid development of the "Network Young Generation Germany Korea". This network was founded last year within the scope of the 8th German-Korean Junior Forum and offers numerous alumni various formats of bilateral cooperation of the young generation. In addition, the respective ambassadors, Dr. Bum-goo Jong and Mr. Michael Reiffenstuel, as well as the head of the Asia and Pacific department in the German Foreign Office, Petra Sigmund, addressed welcoming words to the participants. Afterwards three panels gave presentations on the topics "The current political, economic and social situation in both countries", "Coping with the Corona Pandemic in Korea and Germany - Necessity of International Cooperation" and "75 Years End of World War II - 70 Years Beginning of the Korean War: Culture of Remembrance in United Germany and Divided Korea". 

 

The German-Korean Junior Forum engaged in online discussions in five different working groups on the topics of youth unemployment, democratic education, rise of populism, affordable housing, and international cooperation in relation to COVID-19. The final results of the discussions were presented to the Senior Forum by two representatives. Instead of the normally elaborated recommendations for action of the Junior and Senior Forum, discussion reports will be forwarded to the governments of both countries this year.