Activities
Events and Meetings in December
30th Anniversary of the first Inter-Korean Agreement
The Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-Aggression, and Exchanges and Cooperation between South and North Korea was signed 30 years ago between the two Koreas. Based on this, the international conference on inter-Korean relations and inter-Korean agreements was held on December 3. The Korea Legislation Research Institute, a partner of Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Korea, hosted the international conference to discuss experts' opinions and international case studies, e.g., Germany. Dr. Bernhard Seliger, Representative of HSF Korea, presented the German case study and suggested some lessons learned from German unification. He emphasized that such lessons are helpful but are not fully adaptable to different nations. Hence, insights from the pre-unification period might be the most important right now. Dr. Hyun-Ah Choi also attended the event and shared her thoughts based on her experience of cooperation with experts from the two Koreas. Read more on the event here.
Local Governments and inter-Korean cooperation
On December 6, Dr. Hyun-Ah Choi, Senior Researcher at HSF Korea, was invited to speak at a seminar that discussed the role of local governments in the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation. The newspaper article that reports on the seminar can be read here.
Roundtable on inter-Korean Heritage Cooperation
On 9 December, Dr. Hyun-Ah Choi attended a roundtable hosted by the Technology Research Institute for Culture and Heritage. The invited experts from Architecture, Cultural, and Traditional Heritage shared their insights on inter-Korean Heritage Cooperation. Dr. Choi shared HSF Korea’s environmental projects, such as wetland conservation on the Korean Peninsula. The participants agreed to conduct further meetings regularly to establish sustainable cooperation.
International Conference on Inter-Korean Science Cooperation
Dr. Bernhard Seliger, Representative of HSF Korea, participated on December 12 in the International Conference on Inter-Korean Science Cooperation under the UN SDGs. Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations also joined this event and EU Ambassador Maria Castillo-Fernandez gave the Congratulatory remarks.
Forum on Forest Cooperation
Under the inter-Korean Gangwon-do cooperation association, the forest cooperation subcommittee and Research Institute for Gangwon (RIG) co-hosted the forum on forest cooperation between the North and South Ganwong province to find a way to resume inter-Korean forest cooperation. Prof. Jong-Choon Woo, Chairperson of the Forest Cooperation Subcommittee, gave a keynote speech about the integrative forest cooperation between the two Koreas. After Prof. Woo’s address, Dr. Kyoung-Nam Kim, Senior Research Fellow at RIG, and Dr. So-Young Park, Research Scientist at National Institute of Forest Science, shared their research results and suggested a direction for future cooperation.
As a panelist, Dr. Hyun-Ah Choi, Senior Researcher at HSF Korea, also attended the forum and shared the results of the forest project by HSF Korea and talked about international cooperation in the forest field. More information can be found here.
Final inter-Korean Cultural and Heritage Cooperation Forum
On 16 December, the final inter-Korean Cultural and Heritage Cooperation Forum took place. The forum was initiated in 2019 as an advisory body supported by the Cultural Heritage Administration, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon Provinces. In 2019, the forum covered the Korean demilitarized zone comprehensively while in 2020, the topic was understanding the North Korean national heritage and cooperation plan for South-North cultural heritage. This year’s topic is the basic plan for inter-Korean cultural heritage cooperation. Together with North Korea, the experts developed a step-by-step plan for collaboration that combines preparation, reconciliation, and joint cooperation. Dr. Hyun-Ah Choi, Senior Researcher at HSF Korea, participated in the forum last year. She shared HSF Korea’s experience and suggested ideas for cooperation in natural heritage.
Sustainable Development Goals Forum
Hope to the Future Association, one of HSF Korea’s partners, organized the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Forum together with Daegu High School of International Studies (DHI) on December 22. In this forum, students of DHI conducted various activities. They suggested cooperation to support 17 goals and approach sustainable development holistically at the local, national, and global levels. The invited experts, who work on SDGs, participated in the forum for special lectures. Dr. Hyun-Ah Choi, Senior Researcher at HSF Korea, also participated in the forum and shared HSF’s activities on the Korean Peninsula regarding SDG 16. She particularly recommended the direction for SDG 16 implementation in collaboration with the international community. The students will prepare the DHI resolution for implementing SDGs based on this lecture.
Response to Climate Change and Ecotourism at Jeollabukdo
The Jeollabukdo Ecotourism Sustainable Center held an online forum on December 27 with the title, ‘Response to Climate Change and Ecotourism at Jeollabukdo’. Dr. Bernhard Seliger, Representative of HSF Korea, also gave a presentation with the title ‘Eco-tours in Saemangeum and suggestion for eco-tourism in the Korean West Coast’.