Seoul City Holds 'Peace and Unification Social Dialogue' with 1,350 Citizens

From the 4th to the 10th of next month, non-face-to-face event at DDP Video Studio 'Seoul-On'
Discussion on humanitarian aid to North Korea and social integration of North Korean defectors

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 3rd that it will hold the ‘Citizen-led Peace and Unification Social Dialogue (hereinafter ‘Social Dialogue’)’ involving 1,350 participants including general citizens, youth, and teachers, six times from the 4th of this month to the 10th of next month at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) video conference dedicated studio ‘Seoul-On’.

The youth forum, which will be held starting from the 10th of next month, will for the first time include not only Korean youth (75 people) but also foreign youth residing in Korea (175 people), who will discuss ways for the world and the Korean Peninsula to coexist peacefully.

The citizen forum will proceed in the order of preliminary topic presentations, Session 1 discussions, and Session 2 discussions. The discussion topics were selected through in-depth deliberations by a topic selection committee composed of experts on inter-Korean relations, choosing ‘Humanitarian aid to North Korea regarding COVID-19 and disaster response’ and ‘Social integration measures for North Korean defectors’.

The youth forum will be conducted in a form where youth directly participate, with a separate subcommittee formed to discover topics related to Korean Peninsula peace that global youth can discuss together. The teacher forum will involve education officials including those from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, discussing topics related to unification education selected by the participants.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to compile all processes and discussion contents of this Social Dialogue into a white paper to share with citizens, analyze the opinions of participants, and reflect them in future Seoul inter-Korean exchange and cooperation policies.

Seo Young-gwan, head of the Inter-Korean Cooperation Promotion Division, said, “There are various perspectives on North Korea in our society,” and added, “I hope that citizens with differing views will engage in constructive discussions rather than exhausting conflicts through dialogue.” He also added, “I expect that this year’s Social Dialogue will be an opportunity to raise international awareness and interest in Korean Peninsula peace and inter-Korean relations issues.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.