Democratic Peace Council Holds On-Site Meeting After 6 Years... Yoon Urges "Become a Herald of Unification Diplomacy"

Yoon Chairs Democratic Peaceful Unification Advisory Council Plenary Meeting
"Take the Lead in Uniting Unification Capabilities and Will"

President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 28th urged the National Unification Advisory Council to "become the envoy of South Korea's free democratic unification diplomacy and lead the international community's support and cooperation for the unification of the Korean Peninsula."

On the same day, President Yoon presided over the '21st National Unification Advisory Council Plenary Meeting' at KINTEX in Ilsan in the afternoon, stating, "The National Unification Advisory Council is the frontline organization working for the free democratic peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula. Please take the lead in firmly establishing South Korea's free democracy and consolidating the unification capabilities and will of our people," according to the presidential office.

The plenary meeting is a statutory meeting held biennially under Article 20 of the National Unification Advisory Council Act, and this was the first on-site event in six years. About 100 people attended the meeting, including approximately 10,000 21st-term advisory members, former and current senior vice chairpersons of the National Unification Advisory Council, political and local government leaders.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon emphasized the role of the National Unification Advisory Council for peaceful unification, expressing his commitment by saying, "As the chairperson of the National Unification Advisory Council, I will actively support your activities and efforts."

President Yoon also explained the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's North Korea policy, including a firm response to North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations and improvement of North Korean human rights issues, stressing strong solidarity and cooperation with the free world in response to the global complex crisis.

During the meeting, Kim Hyuk, a standing committee member and defector who revealed the story of his cousin who was forcibly repatriated from China last October, also made a pledge. Kim urged all advisory members to be vigilant about the reality of human rights oppression under the North Korean regime, prompted by the recent forced repatriation incident involving defectors including his cousin.

Meanwhile, U.S. Republican Congresswoman Young Kim, British Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, and Canadian British Columbia Senator Yvonne Martin conveyed via video their hope that the National Unification Advisory Council will serve as a communication channel connecting South Korea and the world for the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula.

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