Bothe delegations have visited the former Inner-German border area to study political, economic and ecological effects of German division and unification. The delegation is also accompanied by Kim Young-Soo, project manager of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea. In Munich, the briefing by Dr. Susanne Luther, head of the International Department of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation, was followed by a briefing at the Ministry of Environment on the “Green Belt”, the former Inner-German border transformed into the largest European wildlife corridor of more than 1300 km length. Other stations of the visit were Hof county and Coburg, where the UNESCO biosphere reserve Rodachtal-Steinachtal, the German-German museum in Moedlareuth as well as the Point Alpha memorial have been visited at the former border. The last leg of the visit will bring the delegation to Bad Hersfeld – Rotenburg county, which has had a two-year partnership with Cheolwon county kicked-off with the help of HSF Korea.
Background: HSF since 2005 cooperates with local and regional administration, development institutes and NGO in the promotion of sustainable development in the inter-Korean border area. The German development of the Green Belt wildlife corridor can be an example for the peaceful future of the Korean DMZ. In particular, HSF also promoted German-Korean county twinning with counties in the inter-Korean border area and the former inner-German border, like Goseong County and Bayreuth county, Yeoncheon county and Hof county and Cheolwon county and Bad Hersfeld-Rotenburg county.