PUAC Holds the 167th Executive Committee Meeting 

The PUAC held the 167th meeting of the Executive Committee (Chairman: PUAC Executive Vice-chairperson Kim Kwan-yong) on May 28 in the conference room on the first floor of the Secretariat. 

Thirty-seven Executive Committee members, including six overseas members, participated in the meeting in person, and six overseas members and domestic members traveling abroad participated online. 

The meeting, moderated by Park Jong-woo, Secretary of the Executive Committee, proceeded in the following order: opening remarks by the Executive Committee Chair, greetings by the Deputy Secretary General, report on the agenda of the day, report by the subcommittee chair, report by the Chair of the Special Committee for Supporting North Korean Defectors, and discussion of other matters related to the operation of the PUAC.

In his opening remarks, Executive Committee Chair Kim Kwan-yong, emphasized the importance of the Executive Committee, saying, "The Executive Committee is the highest decision-making body of the PUAC and it can verify its reunification identity." Kim thanked the domestic and overseas members for attending the meeting.

Kim expressed the opinion that the more turbulent the inter-Korean relations become, the clearer South Korea’s path is becoming. "The PUAC should support the reunification policy of our chairman, the president, and work on the keywords within the grand x-frame of a free, peaceful, and prosperous Korean Peninsula."

"Since the inauguration of the 21st Council, the PUAC has been very successful in its organizational management, meetings, and field work," Kim said, adding that the PUAC has been building a well-knitted support network for North Korean defectors one by one. He introduced what projects the PUAC has carried out to support North Korean defectors.  

Chairman Kim said that "Internal conflict in the South completely deteriorates the momentum and cause chaos. Let the PUAC take the lead in resolving the conflict based on the logic of reunification." Saying that the role of the PUAC members is essential, he asked the PUAC members to take the lead.

Following the opening address, Deputy Secretary General Dong Seung-chul made remarks.

Dong thanked the members for attending the meeting and greeted them. He said, "The PUAC is well on its way to implementing what the Executive Committee agreed on for 2024, especially the projects to support for North Korean defectors. The Secretariat will continue to work hard to help members play a big role in their regions and fields of expertise." 

The meeting was presided over by Executive Vice-chairperson Kim Kwan-yong and one agenda item was put on the table.

The agenda item was ▲Major business achievements and future plans, which was reported by Deputy Secretary General Dong Seung-chul. Recalling the three key tasks for 2024, which were set under the goal of “Preparing for Reunification Based on Liberal Democracy with the People,” Dong reported detailed implementation results and plans for each task.

Ra Jong-eok (Chair of the Operations Subcommittee) reported the results of the Operations Subcommittee's deliberations on the agenda for this Executive Committee meeting. There was no disagreement on the results of the major business and future plans. The report on matters related to the operation of the PUAC was divided into one on supporting North Korean defectors and the other on other businesses. 

Although not included in the agenda of the day, there was a report on the status and future plans for supporting North Korean defectors. Cho Yong-geun (Chairman of the Special Committee for Supporting North Korean Defectors) distributed in advance materials containing the detailed implementation status of each project from January to May of this year and future plans to help the members understand. He drew attention of the members present for his remarks on supporting North Korean refugees based on his own decades of experience.

After hearing the reports, the committee members freely expressed their opinions. Specific measures to support North Korean defectors, measures against unfaithful PUAC members, and issues related to the organization's operations were presented and discussed in detail.

In his concluding remarks, Kwan-yong Kim, Chairman of the Executive Committee, commented on the members' suggestions one by one and concluded the meeting after saying that he would review the suggestions and take action, either by responding to the members later or proceeding independently, depending on the case.

The Executive Committee meeting was a meaningful opportunity to share and freely discuss the progress made in the first half of the two-year term and future plans for the second half. It is expected that the Executive Committee members will play an energetic role in their respective regions and areas of expertise to produce concrete results.