Europe, Middle East & Africa Assembly holds 2021 Public Diplomacy Conference

The "Public Diplomatic Conference" hosted by the Europe, Middle East & Africa Assembly (Vice Chair Park Jong Beom) and organized by the Southern Europe Chapter (Head Lee Sang Moo) was held on July 3.

Secretary-General Bae Ki Chan expressed his appreciation to the assembly for its activities for the past two years, saying, “Overseas council members who have been conducting various activities to let the international community know about the vision for peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula are the biggest public diplomacy asset.”

Ambassador to France Yoo Dae Jong said in a speech, “For overseas Koreans, their daily lives themselves are a stage of public diplomacy, and they are important players of public diplomacy.”

The event provided an opportunity to share the experiences and insights of many overseas Koreans who stand at the forefront of public diplomacy.

The first part of the event started with composer Choi Jung Woo's guitar performance of the national anthem, followed by the introduction of the energetic public diplomacy activities of Chung Woo Min, coach of the French national youth taekwondo team, Korean traditional dancer Ahn Je Hyun, and sculptor Park Eun Sun.

The second part featured “Koreans of Las Palmas” and “Koreans of Suippes in France” which traced the footsteps of the proud ancestors.

2-1 Koreans in Las Palmas

Las Palmas, an island in Spain's Canary Islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean off western Africa, was the center of South Korea's deep-sea fishing industry in the mid-1960s. There were 8,000 sailors in the 1970s and 80s. Fighting the rough waves of the Atlantic Ocean, they remitted 880 million U.S. dollars over 20 years, contributing to the modernization of their homeland. The patriots who risked their lives to go fishing but failed to return home were laid to rest at the cemetery of Korean sailors there.

2-2 Koreans in Suippes, France

The history of Koreans in France is the history of 100 years of Koreans in Europe. On November 19, 1919, 35 workers who arrived in France from Russia via England began their lives in a small town called Suippes, northeast of Paris. They formed the Korean Association in France, and sent half of their salaries they earned for removing the remains and corpses left by World War I to the Korean Commission to Paris. The money was used for the independence of the country.

2-3 Tong Quiz (Tongil Quiz) on the Block / French trio who knows Korea better than Koreans

Three French got together to talk about Korea: Claire, whose interest in North Korea started with curiosity and led to an academic paper; Jeanne, a Korean language expert who started learning Korean through dialect and refined her Korean language skills through entertainment programs; and Ballangddang, who learned Korean at the language school of Ewha Womans University and part-time jobs.

They said they were impressed by the cleanness and orderliness in Korea. They talked about various topics such as differences in love culture, romanticism of Korea where couples wear same clothes, social pressure and uniformity, and different entrance examination cultures.

To the question will the Korean Peninsula be unified, Claire, who wrote a paper on “The possibility of unification of the Korean Peninsula,” spoke first. She predicted that if unification by diplomacy was difficult, it would be a case of “bottom up,” that is an upward movement from the bottom. She expected that the way North Koreans think will change gradually since the country is undergoing many social changes. The North Korean government therefore would lose trust of the people and eventually adapt to the social changes.

Jeanne said that unification will take a longer time if the U.S. and China don't get along well. She said that she understood young people’s opposition to unification, but she asked back, “Shouldn’t unification be achieved?"

They shared the view that the April 27 Panmunjeom summit, the unified women’s hockey team at PyeongChang Olympics, and the 2018 performance in Pyongyang wishing for inter-Korean peace and cooperation would have positive impact on unification.

The "Tong Quiz (Tongil Quiz) on the Block" offered an enjoyable time to share public diplomacy activities promoting the legitimacy of peaceful unification with French locals.

3 Wrap-up

Kwak Kyung Hye, chair of the Public Diplomacy Standing Committee of the Southern Europe Chapter, said she valued relationships she had with council members from other countries while engaging in various events over the past two years. She expressed hope that members of the 20th NUAC to be formed would have have the same experience.

Park Jong Beom, vice chair of the Europe, Middle East & Africa Assembly, said that he expected the 20th NUAC will become a novel one based on the achievements of the 19th NUAC.

The “Public Diplomatic Conference” which was full of emotions and passion, has given a valuable time to see how far the level and role of overseas council members have reached.