Planning‧Coordination, Unification‧Security Standing Committees Hold Joint 

Forum on the March 1 Presidential Address

The PUAC (Executive Vice-chairperson Kim Kwan-yong) held a joint forum on the March 1 Presidential Commemorative Address at 2 p.m. on March 18 (Monday) in the conference room on the second floor of the Secretariat of the PUAC. The forum sought ways to achieve unification based on liberal democracy. Co-hosted by the Planning‧Coordination, Unification‧Security Standing Committees, the forum brought together about 60 people, including members of the standing committees, members of PUAC local chapters, and secretariat staff. The forum was broadcast live on YouTube.

The joint forum included opening remarks by Son Jeong-mok, Chairman of the Unification‧Security Standing Committee ; greeting remarks by Executive Vice-chairperson Kim Kwan-yong; a keynote presentation by Cha Doo-hyun, Chairman of the Planning‧Coordination Standing Committee ; and designated presentations by Kim Il-ki, a Central Committee member who is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy; and Chun Sung-hoon, a Central Committee member who is an Invited Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification; designated discussions by Park Young-ja, a Central Committee member who is a Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification; Shin Ki-hyun, a Professor Emeritus at Jeonbuk National University; Park Hyung-jung, a Central Committee member who is a Chair Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification; and Cho Nam-hoon, a Central Committee member who is a Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. A general discussion of all participants followed. 

▶ View of the Joint Forum 

In his opening remarks, Son Jeong-mok, chairman of the Unification‧Security Standing Committee , said, "As the President mentioned in his statement on the 105th anniversary of the March 1 commemoration, unification is an extension of the universal values of freedom and human rights, and a free and unified Korea will contribute to peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia and around the world." “I hope that "today's forum will serve as an opportunity to draw a plan for achieving unification based on liberal democracy," Son said. 

▶ Opening remarks by Son Jeong-mok, Chairman of the Unification‧Security Standing Committee  

In his remarks, Executive Vice-chairperson Kim Kwan-yong said that "Despite North Korea's recent hardline arguments such as 'a relationship of two hostile countries' and the dropping of ‘the concept of unification and one people,' it is time for us to actively put forward a liberal democracy-based unification." "Unification can be completed with freedom in the sense that it is a process of transforming North Korea into a liberal democratic system," Kim said. He also expressed his expectation that the joint forum will promote "creative and timely discussions on various issues." 

▶ Remarks by Executive Vice-chairperson Kim Kwan-yong

Following the opening ceremony, the designated presentations and discussions went on in earnest, chaired by Cha Doo-hyun, Chairman of the Planning‧Coordination Standing Committee . In his keynote presentation, Cha said that it is an important time to "elaborate a logical system and draw policy directions based on the belief in liberal democracy." He spoke about interpretation of history and identity, domestic realization of liberal democracy, interpretation of North-South relations, and foreign policy. He focused on interpretations and responses based on liberal democracy.

▶ Keynote presentation by Cha Doo-hyun, Chairman of the Planning‧Coordination Standing Committee 

Following the keynote presentation, Kim Il-ki, a Central Committee member and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, delivered a designated presentation. He talked about the need to strengthen unification capacity based on liberal democracy and mentioned the need to revise and supplement the unification plan and its basic direction, the direction of revising and supplementing the main logic and content of the unification plan, and ways to spread consensus on the unification plan. 

▶ Presentation by Central Committee member Kim Il-ki

Chun Sung-hoon, a Central Committee member and senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, gave a designated presentation on “How to implement internal and external policies centered on North Korean human rights and value diplomacy.“ Chun assessed that today's zeitgeist is "an era of reunification-oriented great transformation," and proposed detailed policy measures to promote North Korean human rights and universal values, including the need to separate the issues of North Korean denuclearization and inter-Korean relations and the establishment of a master plan for peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula. 

▶ Presentation by Central Committee member Chun Sung-hoon

Following the keynote presentation and designated presentations, the first designated panelist, Park Young-ja, a Central Committee member and Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, gave a full agreement with the arguments of the presenters and added proposals for a medium-term approach and a bottom-up approach for spreading public consensus in order to establish a liberal democratic reunification plan

▶ Discussion by Central Committee member Park Young-ja

The second designated panelist, Professor Emeritus Shin Ki-hyun of Jeonbuk National University, said that it is desirable to prepare a unification plan that takes into account North Korea's denuclearization and human rights issues and upgrade it and give a new name fitting the new era. He emphasized the role of the PUAC in regard to the feasibility of revising and supplementing the main logic and content of the unification plan, ways to secure and spread internal consensus on the unification plan. 

▶ Discussion by Central Committee member Shin Ki-hyun

The third designated panelist, Park Hyung-jung, a Central Committee member and Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said that the government's reunification and inter-Korean policy should emphasize 'peace and ethnicity,' as well as 'freedom and human rights.' Park called for the resetting of the discourse on peace and ethnicity and the promotion of reunification policies in the mid- to long-term. 

▶ Discussion by Central Committee member Park Hyung-jung

The last designated panelist, Cho Nam-hoon, a Central Committee member and Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, agreed with the designated presentation about securing a flexible and broad policy space by separating the North Korean nuclear issue and inter-Korean relations issues. Cho proposed policy implementation scenarios based on lessons and experiences gained from past unification policies, including strengthening cooperation with the international community and considering a "strategic patience” strategy. 

▶ Discussion by Central Committee member Cho Nam-hoon

Finally, the designated presentations and discussions were followed by a lively Q&A session where participants freely expressed their opinions. The PUAC will comprehensively review what was dealt with in the forum and actively make proposals through regular and occasional policy recommendations to the President.