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2021 Seoul-Pyongyang City Research Forum

On the 14th of May, the 2021 Seoul-Pyongyang City Research Forum, hosted by the Institute of Seoul and the University of Seoul, was held. Dr. Bernhard Seliger, the representative of HSF Korea, gave a presentation on ‘Children and Youth in Pyongyang- Jeunesse Dorée or Lost Generation?’. Also, HSF Korea and the Institute of Seoul signed the Memorandum of Understanding to intensify and expand the cooperation.

The aim of the forum, which was held at the 100th Memorial Hall in the University of Seoul, was to establish the city’s independent inter-Korean exchange and cooperation system. In particular, researchers in their 30s and 40s, who play a frontier role in Pyongyang research, and experts with a lot of experience in the topic gathered to understand the city itself and build a Pyongyang research platform for win-win cooperation between Pyongyang and Seoul. Due to the deterioration of US-North Korea relations and COVID-19, now it is very important to prepare for future exchanges through an attempt to understand North Korea and Pyongyang, rather than expecting radical breakthrough of inter-Korean relations such as the 2018 inter-Korean summit.

 

Following the keynote speech of Jung Byung-Ho, an honorary professor at Hanyang University, titled ‘The Discrimination Logic of Pyongyang, the Revolutionary Capital’, three speakers gave a speech on different approaches to Pyongyang. The experts presented the socioeconomic status of women, the real estate market, and policy exploration in Pyongyang. Dr. Seliger, representative of HSF Korea, gave a presentation titled “Children and Youth in Pyongyang- Jeunesse Dorée or Lost Generation?” In particular, he looked deep into the privileges and benefits of Pyongyang’s Millennials and Generation Z compared to the past in Pyongyang and the current MZ generation in rural areas. Finally, Dr. Seliger suggested the enhancement of inter-Korean exchanges among students.

 

During the forum, the Institute of Seoul and the Hanns Seidel Foundation signed on a memorandum of understanding. The two foundations promised to promote academic exchange and cooperation on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. After that, there was a roundtable debate about the topics presented before and a comprehensive discussion involving about 20 experts. In particular, starting with the Seoul-Pyongyang City forum, experts expected active exchanges of local governments with similar characteristics such as the Suwon-Kaesong City Forum.

 

 

 

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