Women, Peace and Security in Korea and East Asia
Women, Peace and Security on the Korean Peninsula and in East Asia: Civil Society’s Role in International Cooperation
Women, Peace and Security on the Korean Peninsula and in East Asia: International Cooperation and the Role of Civil Society
Last week, on August 19 and 20, 2025, in Seoul more than hundred women from civil society, politics, think tanks and academia met to discuss the issues of peace and security in Korea and Northeast Asia and the role of women as peacemakers. The meeting was organized by the Center for Korean Women and Politics (CKWP), a long-standing partner of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation in Korea, and supported by Hanns-Seidel-Foundation as well as the women newspaper “Women´s News”. The first day of the meeting started with opening remarks by Kim Eun-Ju, Executive Director of CWKP. Also, Representative Jin Sun-mee, Member of the National Assembly (DP), gave a congratulatory remark, together with Bernhard Seliger of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation (HSF) and President Kim Jong-soog of the Korean Women´s Development Institute (KWDI).
Afterwards, the first session of the seminar reflected upon the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, which was adopted unanimously on October 31st, 2000. The session, which was chaired by Park Eu-kyung, emeritus professor of Chonnam National University, started with a presentation by Hyun In-ae, representative of the Korea Peninsular Future Women´s Institute on women´s rights in North Korea through the lens of UNSCR 1325, particularly looking at the role and burden of North Korean women in the military. The second presentation by Cho Young-Ju, Director of the Center for Gender Impact Assessment of KWDI, looked at the status of UNSCR 1325 implementation in South Korea, in particular through the four national action plans since implemented. Afterwards, an international team discussed the papers: Takenobu Mieko, Deputy Representative of Womenßs Association for Peace and No Military Expansion, Shen Hsiu-Hua, advisor and former chairwomen of the Awakening Foundation, Kim Ellie, research professor in the Ewha Institute for the Humanities and Kim Jeong-soo, director of Women Making Peace.
The day ended with a dinner sponsored by HSF attended by Kim Young-Soo, project director of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation for South Korea.
The second session started next day to discuss social change in North Korea. It was chaired by Cho Jung-ah, senior research fellow in the Korean Institute for National Unification. The first presentation by Park Eun-ah, a PhD candidate in University of California, Riverside, looked into new media strategies and messaging by the Kim Jong-Un regime, among others through Youtube and Twitter/ X. The second presentation by Lee Jin-song, a PhD candidate at the University of North Korean Studies, discussed North Korean Youth´s attitude toward hallyu, the Korean wave. The last presentation of the session, by. Prof. Kim Kyung-sook, of the Divisuion of Unification and International Health at Yonsei University Medical school, pondered on civil society elements in North Korea. Prof. Seo Jeong-ho of Gachon University, Lee Si-hyo of Myongil University and Jo Hyun-jung, research fellow of the Korea Institute for National Unification, discussed these papers.
The 3rd session of the conference took a broader view at women in peace and security and international cooperation across East Asia. It was chaired by Professor Yi Hee-Young of Daegu University. Tanako Yuko, representative of the Women´s Association for Peace and No Military Expansion, Japan, discussed the role and challenges of women through Japan´s National Action Plan. Peng Yenwen, executive director fof the National Alliance of Taiwan Women´s Associations, looked into the role of Taiwan´s women associations in implementing CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Kwon Yeon-Yi, visiting scholar at University of Tokyo, Lee Kyung-Ah, research professor at Hoseo University and Jang Hye-young, Member of the 21st National Assembly, discussed the presentations.
The last session was a roundtable on building an Asia women network. It was chaired by Kim Eun-Kyung, director at Sejong Leadership Institute. Congratulatory remarks came from Kwon Hyang-yup, member of the 22nd National Assembly, Ahn Myung-ok, Member of the 17th National Assembly and Co-chair of the Korea-Vietnam Women´s Forum as well as Kim Hyo-sun, publisher at Women´s News. Kim Eun-Ju, executive director at CKWP, preposed an “Asia Women Initiative for Parity and Peace”. Women activists, researchers, students, and politicians from various Asian countries discussed the proposal. This workshop was the third workshop in the series, and the women organizations of the countries will continue to meet.
