Engagement in Korea
Environmental Award for Hanns Seidel Foundation
The Environment Minister and Laureats: 2nd from left Masaharu Nakagawa, Japanese Environment Minister; 5th from left Li Ganjie, Chinese Environment Minsiter, 7th from left Dr Bernhard Seliger, Hanns Seidel FOundation Korea, 8thfrom left Kim Eunkyung, South Korean Environment Minister
HSF
Tripartite Meeting of the Environment Ministers of China, Japan, and South Korea
In spite of tensions resulting from past conflicts China, Japan and South Korea have endeavored to cooperate in various fields, ranging from tourism to maritime economy and trade in the last couple of decades. Now there is even a secretariat for trilateral cooperation in Seoul and there are more than a hundred formats of meetings where the three countries convene. The oldest meeting which has been running continuously since 1999 is the meeting of the three environment ministers of China, Japan and South Korea, called TEMM (Tripartite Environmental Ministers Meeting). Besides intergovernmental discussions and negotiations, there is also a meeting of scientists, business men and youth organizations. The three environment ministers also award a prestigious environmental prize.
South Korean Environment Minister with the Laureats from Korea from left to right: Dr Bernhard Seliger (HSF Korea), Environment Minister Kim Eunkyung, Prof Kim Chol-Hee
HSF
Award for Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea at Anniversary Meeting of Environment Ministers
This year the anniversary meeting “TEMM 20” took place in the famous garden city Suzhou near Shanghai in China. This time, the Hanns Seidel Foundation was one of six organizations receiving the award, 2 for each country. Dr Bernhard Seliger, representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Korea, received the prize from the South Korean environment minister, Mrs. Kim Eunkyung. The Hanns Seidel Foundation was awarded for their long-standing engagement for environmental issues on the Korean Peninsula.
Dr Bernhard Seliger, HSF Korea, giving his acceptance speech
HSF
Fifteen Years of Ceaseless Engagement for Environmental Protection in inner-Korean Border Region
For 15 years the Hanns Seidel Foundation has been working for sustainable development in the inner-Korean border region, not least because of the German experience with the so-called “Green Belt” which can now be applied at the border between North and South Korea. In North Korea the Hanns Seidel Foundation has supported the projects of Clean Development Mechanism, afforestation, and environmental protection projects. The Hanns Siedel Foundation Korean is also a partner of the East Asian Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), an organization with 18 member states as well as international organizations and the NGOs which aim at the protection of migratory birds on the Asian-Pacific flyway. This year, projects on the improvement of air quality in the three Asian countries were in the focus of the ministers meeting.