The German-Korean Junior-Forum is an institution founded to promote the close friendship between Germany and Korea. Representatives from both countries meet either in South Korea or Germany to discuss important topics of German-Korean relations, including politics, culture, science and business.

October 24, 2018, the 17th German-Korean Forum was opened in Daejeon

On 21 October 2018 under the theme “Wetlands for a Sustainable Future” representatives of the 170 contracting parties and international organizations gather to assess progress in the implementation of the Convention and the wise use of wetlands.

Cheorwon county also has plan to build International Crane Center in 2019 and hoping that long-term projects are established with ICF for co-living between cranes and local people. To prepare the sustainable habitat conservation plan for the cranes 2018 International Crane Workshop were held in Cheorwon from 21 to 23 October 2018 hosted by International Crane Foundation (ICF) and Cheorwon County.

On occasion of the visit of Dr. Alexander Wolf, representative of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation in Berlin, a trip with Dr. Bernhard Seliger and Yeobin Yoon of HSF Korea to the inner-Korean border in Goseong County, partner county of HSF Korea, took place. Together with Vice Ambassador of Goseong County, Yang Won-Mo, and members of his team the “Goseong Unification Pollack Festival”, celebrating the famous dried fish of the area, was visited and chances for North-South cooperation were discussed.

On 18 October the ecological engineering roundtable meeting for Social Overhead Capital (SOC) development in Korean Peninsular took place in Gyeongju city. It was part of the Korean Society of Civil Engineers 2018 Conference. The main theme was the role of ecological engineering in Korean Peninsular for the fields of the water, transportation, and environment infrastructure.

Based on an invitation by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, County Chief Dr. Michael Koch from Bad Hersfeld-Rotenburg and Christine Trinks, the district's commissioner for the Future, travelled to Korea, where they held political talks in Cheolwon County, which is located in the Gangwon Province on the inner-Korean border, and participated in the opening ceremony of the exhibition on the former inner-German border at the Gangwon DMZ Museum.

As a country which has experienced division and reunification, the German experiences with these situations and view on the recent developments on the Korean peninsula is of great interest to many Koreans. Therefore, the Seoul National University GSPA and the Hanns Seidel Foundation held the conference “Germany and Korea: Integration and Unification” on October 10th, which dealt with exactly these issues and gave both Korean and German experts and interested audience members a chance to exchange information and opinions on reunification.

28 years after the peaceful unification of Germany, the history of division slowly fades away from the memory of people. At the same time, unfortunately, in Korea the history of division is still reality today. The commemoration of division and its reasons therefore are important in Korea, and they remain important for Germany, too. This is the reason why Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea cooperates since its beginning in 2009 with the Gangwon DMZ museum in Goseong, directly at the inner-Korean border.

The latest issue of the magazine “The Unified Korea”, which deals with topics concerning Korean unification, has been published by the Institute for Peace Affairs, a long-standing partner of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Korea. Dr. Bernhard Seliger, Representative of HSF Korea, published an article that can be found on pages 38 to 41.

This year Germany celebrated already for the 28th time the German reunification. Not only in Germany, but also in Korea, which still today is divided into DPR Korea and the Republic of Korea, this was taken as an occasion to toast to it.

Transboundary conservation is of particular importance in Northeast Asia. While geopolitics as well as social, political and cultural differences are often drawing borders between countries and people, nature does not acknowledge these borders. During the World Leaders Conservation Forum on Jeju Island the Hanns Seidel Foundation was represented by Felix Glenk, Project Manager for DPR Korea, who shared the work and projects of HSF Korea in the technical session “Conservation Beyond Boundaries”.

The side event, which will take place on October 24th from 6:15pm to 7:30pm, a variety of topics in regard to DPR Korea and Ramsar Convention will be discussed, and the launch of the “2nd National Wetland Inventory of the DPR Korea” will be celebrated.

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between South and North Korea is home to a large number of various animal and plant species and a unique region that offers insights on the nature of the Korean peninsula away from human development. But how can or should this nature and environment be conserved in the long run? That was the question Dr. Nial Moores and Felix Glenk debated in an interview on KBS World Radio.

The 2018 Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) Asia Conference took place form 9 to12 October 2018 in Dehradun, India organized by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and ESP Asia Regional Office (RO). The main theme is Communication and Engaging Ecosystem Services in Policy and Practice in Asia.

On 8 October 2018, ESP Asia Office and Wildlife Institute of India organized the training for the Valuing and Capturing the Benefits of Ecosystem Restoration in Dehradun, India as a part of 2018 ESP Asia Conference.

Two former German forest officials Hartmut Kiene-Kroos and Joachim Lorbach as well as Manfred Bauer, the head of the Hessian Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection as well as head of the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park, visited South Korea from October 5th until October 7th based on an invitation by the Korean Forestry Services (KFS).

Dr. Hyun-Ah Choi, Senior Researcher of the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Korea attended as a speaker the 5th World Conference on Climate Change. The conference had the objective to bring leading climatologists, meteorologists, and environmental researchers together to exchange and share their experiences and research results regarding every aspect of climate change and global warming.

In the last 35 years, 35 percent of wetlands disappeared globally, i.e. one percent per year. This alarming trend can only be stopped, and maybe reversed, if the public is aware of it – but largely, it is not. CEPA (Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness) activities are therefore one of the most important activities, environmentalists and managers of wetlands have to engage in. And, while there are many good examples for this, often there is no developed strategy to better inform the public.

In the light of the recent rapprochement between South and North Korea, on October 10th, 2018 the conference “Germany and Korea: Integration and Unification” will take place at the Seoul National University from 1:00 p.m to 5:15 p.m. This conference is an international joint conference organized by the Seoul National University, the Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea and the Free University of Berlin.