The First Meeting of the Unification Future Planning Committee... Kwon Young-se "Progressive Efforts Needed"

'Ministerial Advisory'... 1st Meeting of the Unification Future Planning Committee
"A Blueprint Needed Containing Goals for Advancing Unification"

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se urged the newly launched Unification Future Planning Committee on the 15th, saying, "Just as an accurate blueprint is fundamental when building a house or making a road, a blueprint containing important goals and processes toward unification is necessary."

In his opening remarks at the first meeting of the Unification Future Planning Committee held at the Inter-Korean Dialogue Headquarters that day, Minister Kwon stated, "It is a time when more active and progressive efforts are needed to open the future of a unified Korea that we dream of."

Minister of Unification Kwon Young-se [Image source=Yonhap News]

Minister Kwon referred to a unified Republic of Korea as a 'weighty mission' given to our generation, but noted that the journey does not seem easy, expressing concern that "North Korea continues to reject the path of dialogue, cooperation, peace, and coexistence, and only pursues the path of coercion, deception, confrontation, and isolation." He recalled President Yoon Suk-yeol's remark that "unification can only be realized when it is prepared," and repeatedly urged the Unification Future Planning Committee to establish a sustainable unification policy foundation that all members of Korean society can empathize with and respect.

The Unification Future Planning Committee, an advisory body to the Minister of Unification, is expected to play a key role in establishing the 'New Unification Future Vision' that contains a vision for building a foundation for free democratic peaceful unification. The first meeting was attended by 33 committee members including Chairman Kim Young-ho, subcommittee chairs Kim Cheon-sik (political and military), Hyun In-ae (social and cultural), Lee Jeong-hoon (humanitarian and human rights), Kim Jae-cheon (international cooperation), as well as senior officials from the Ministry of Unification.

Kim Young-ho, chairman of the Unification Future Planning Committee, said, "The New Unification Future Vision will be prepared on the basis of comprehensively and simultaneously considering unification, diplomacy, security, and North Korea policy without separating them," adding, "The Korea-type Helsinki Process, which pursues the trinity goals of the North Korean nuclear issue, inter-Korean economic cooperation, and North Korean human rights based on the 1975 Helsinki model, should also be actively considered."

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