Yoon Hee-sung, President of Su-eun Bank, "Discussion on Unification Vision, a Valuable Asset for North Korea's Infrastructure and Livelihood Reconstruction"

The Export-Import Bank of Korea announced on the 18th that it held a seminar on "North Korea Policy for Future Strategies on the Korean Peninsula" at the Glad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul.

Sponsored by the Ministry of Unification, the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee, and K-water, the seminar was organized to concretize the South Korean government's "8.15 Unification Doctrine" based on the international situation following the election of Trump, and to discuss North Korea and unification policies linked to climate change, healthcare, and science and technology.

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The "8.15 Unification Doctrine" is the unification vision and implementation strategy presented by President Yoon Suk-yeol in his Liberation Day speech this year, aiming toward a "Free, Peaceful, and Prosperous Unified Korea." While maintaining the core of previous governments' unification plans, it reflects contemporary demands and changed realities by including detailed implementation plans and follow-up measures that individuals, the state, and the international community can realistically undertake.

During the roundtable session of the seminar, a discussion was held on the theme "Unification Vision after the U.S. Presidential Election" with Professor Ma Sang-yoon of Catholic University, Professor Seo Jeong-geon of Kyung Hee University, Professor Gu Gap-woo of the University of North Korean Studies, Professor Jeon Jae-sung of Seoul National University, Lee Ho-ryeong, Director of the Security Strategy Center at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, and Hwang Seung-hee, Director of Unification Planning at the Ministry of Unification.

In the planning session, an in-depth presentation and discussion on "North Korea and Unification Policies Linked to Future Issues" took place, attended by Namgung Eun, Chairman of the K-water Unification Water Research Committee, among others.

In his opening remarks at the seminar, Yoon Hee-sung, President of the Export-Import Bank of Korea, stated, "Discussions on concretizing our government's unification vision and North Korea and unification policies linked to future issues such as climate change will become valuable assets in preparing for the reconstruction of North Korean infrastructure and livelihoods." Minister of Unification Kim Young-ho emphasized in his congratulatory speech that "to realize the vision of the '8.15 Unification Doctrine,' it is necessary to activate unification discussions not only in the social sciences but also in various future fields such as healthcare, bio, environment, and information technology (IT)."

In a subsequent congratulatory speech, Na Kyung-won, a member of the People Power Party, said that proposing unification policies mediated by climate change response, healthcare, or science and technology is an issue that requires continuous attention and expressed hope that "this seminar will become an important foundation for preparing future unification policies." Kim Sang-hyup, the 5th Secretary-General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), stressed that "the climate crisis is a global issue, and there is room to address North-South climate change responses through international and multilateral cooperation."

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