Events
HSF activities with the invited expert Craig Boljkovac

24. Nov.  Special lecture at HUFS

On November 24, 2022, Dr. Bernhard Seliger, a representative of Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea, held a special lecture at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. As a guest speaker and commentator, Mr. Craig Boljkovac, a former UN expert based in Geneva, participated in this lecture on "North Korea and the EU - between diplomacy and isolation". He provided insights into his experiences working with and in North Korea, recounted his delegation trips to North Korea, and gave his opinion on how engagement with North Korea might develop in the future.

Dr. Bernhard Seliger's presentation provided students with background information on North Korea, its people, EU-North Korea relations, and the development of international cooperation with the DPRK. For instance, he touched on topics such as the Covid pandemic effects, also in reference to the North Korean health system, and explained the process of how the historical background of North Korea and its international relationships led to today. He emphasized the importance of increased engagement with North Korea and, based on that, presented HSF's projects in the DPRK as well as lessons learned from the capacity building. Explaining why HSF considers it of great importance to engage in DPRK issues, Dr. Seliger touched on development projects such as the EU-DPRK Trade Capacity Project (2006-2009), the registration of CDM projects since 2010, pilot projects on renewable energy, and lessons which were learned. Especially the Sonbong flooding was highlighted in the presentation as a successful example of an HSF project which had sustainable positive effects on people in North Korea, in this case, related to sustainable forestry. Mr. Craig Boljkovac supported the presentation by talking about his experiences in DPRK and with DPRK representatives in foreign countries.

Both Dr. Seliger and Mr. Boljkovac emphasized the potential of environmental projects to be one of the most important ways to promote engagement between North and South Korea. The international students in the audience have shown great interest by asking numerous questions on North Korean issues and the experts' personal experiences such as delegation trips to DPRK. The questions included perspectives on how the situation in North Korea might look like in 10 years, and whether the experts have had the chance to speak to the North Korean civilization while visiting the country.

28. Nov. Pyongyang Perspectives 

On the morning of 28th of November 2022, Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea brought together national and international experts of various fields concerning DPR Korean issues. Mr. Craig Boljkovac a Geneva based UN expert was invited as a special guest, leading the meeting with a presentation of his experiences in working in and with the DPRK bringing high experience to the panel especially on brown environmental issues.