Forum
DMZ International Forum on the Peace Economy

Dr. Heino Polley discusses measures for nature conservation with North Korean forest experts.

Approximately one hundred participants will attend in this year's forum, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Reunification and the cities of Seoul and Incheon. The forum focuses on the progress of the peace process on the Korean peninsula and the improvement of inter-Korean relations. Both national and international experts, organizations and representatives will have their say to discuss the visions of a peace-oriented economy on the Korean peninsula.

Dr. Bernhard Seliger, representative of HSF Korea, and Felix Glenk, project manager for DPR Korea, will also present the work of Hanns Seidel Foundation in North Korea in two parallel lectures.

In session six, Dr. Bernhard Seliger will explain the German experience of a divided country under the topic "The German Green Belt - Environmental, Legal and Managerial Perspectives" and analyse the effects on society and nature. In addition, he will discuss the challenges that the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 brought for German unification. Particularly noteworthy is the "Green Belt" initiative, which began in 1989 to symbolically transform the zone, also known as the "death strip", into a monument to unification and renewal. Following on from this, Dr. Seliger will draw parallels to the Korean border region and derive possible future scenarios for Korean reunification.

At the same time, Mr. Felix Glenk will present in session two on "Conservation and International Cooperation for DMZ" and discuss the possibilities that nature conservation cooperation offers for inter-Korean understanding. In particular, he will present the nature conservation projects of the Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea, which in recent years has increasingly initiated activities to protect North Korean wetlands, forests and migratory bird species.