2024 World Youth Council Members’ Conference

The PUAC (Executive Vice-chairperson Kim Kwan-yong, Secretary General Tae Yong-ho), under the auspices of the Central and Eastern European Chapter, held the "2024 World Youth Council Members’ Conference" at the Okecie Hotel in Warsaw, Poland, on November 1-3. The conference theme was "The Role of Youth Council Members for a Free, Peaceful, Prosperous Unified Korea."

The youth conference brought together about 80 leading youth council members from 27 countries around the world. The event was organized to explore the role of youth council members to promote the Yoon administration's "August 15 Doctrine" vision and to strengthen the public diplomacy capacity for unification, at a time when it is crucial to secure international support for a free and unified Korea, given the changes in the global security landscape caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war and the advancement of K-Defense industry.

In his opening remarks, Kwon Young-kwan, Head of the Central and Eastern European Chapter, which organized the conference, talked about the background for holding the conference in Poland, saying that he wanted to showcase the successful development of liberal democracy in the former Eastern European communist countries. He hoped for true democratization of North Korea and a free unification of the Korean peninsula.

In his welcoming remarks, Ko Kwang-hee, Vice-chairperson of the Europe, Middle East and Africa Assembly, said, “The role of the youth members for a free, peaceful and prosperous Korea should not remain a slogan. I hope that young people should gather their wisdom and passion to improve human rights issues in North Korea and implement the Unification Doctrine, he said. In his congratulatory remarks, Yoon Young-min, Cheif of the Youth Executive Committee, who attended as the PUAC youth representative, said, "Just as Poland has overcome the scars of the past and developed into a central country in Europe, let's work together to make our dream of unification a reality.”

In his keynote lecture, Executive Vice-chairperson Kim Kwan-yong called on the youth to pay attention to the importance of science and technology and innovation, which are essential for the future of Korea in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the role of culture in enhancing Korea's national prestige, and unification based on liberal democracy. Kim particularly emphasized that the core of the August 15 Unification Doctrine is the expansion of freedom and human rights, and that ensuring that North Koreans also enjoy freedom and human rights is the path to unification.

In a special lecture, H.E. Lim Hoon-min, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Poland, talked about the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the security landscape of the Korean Peninsula. Timothy Cho, Secretary General of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, then warned against apathy towards the North Korean human rights issues, calling for "increased attention to the issue with political influence and grassroots activities.”

The group discussions, which were held with the voluntary participation of youth members, set the stage for a lively debate on strategies and measures to promote the August 15 Unification Doctrine. In this process, feasible solutions were derived, and the presentation of the results of the group discussions provided an opportunity to share various ideas and knowledge.