The Institute for Peace Affairs hosts a Teacher-Student Discussion

After opening remarks by Mr. Shin Jin, the chief of the Institute for Peace Affairs, teachers presented how they conducted their lessons on unification with middle school students. Baek Myung Ki, a teacher from Banghwa Middle School, explained how evolved the education on unification in South Korea has come so far by explaining how North Korean were taught as an entirely different ethnicity, and “unification” was discouraged from the minds of citizens. Kang Min Suh, from Mokdong Middle School, and Kang Sung, from Yum Kwang Middle School, showed student-created jeopardy on questions related to North Korea, rap songs about North Korea, and how-to manuals for Korean unification. They also explained that when middle school students experience North Korean food, history, and culture, it revives a sense of unified ethnic identity amongst the students. Kang Sung also stated that the fight to claim Dokdo can be instrumental for creating a unified (North and South) Korean front.

College students first portrayed statistics concerning views on North Korea and unification in South Korea. Statistics showed that while the majority favors unification, interest on unification is decreasing, and that while most students prefer field trips and seminars, most classes are lecture-based and utilize audio-visual learning. College students urged that education about unification should decrease prejudice through more contact and exchange with North Korean defectors, field trips to unification sites, and integrating these topics into the daily life of middle school students through social media.