‘Youth Dialogue with the Secretary-General’ on Consensus for Peaceful Unification

On April 19 (Tuesday) at 4:30 pm (Korean time), the PUAC held a ‘Youth Dialogue with the Secretary- General’ to build consensus on peaceful unification among young people. 

Conducted both online and offline, the 90-minute event including a free discussion session was attended by more than 900 young council members at home and abroad (including online participants). 

Kim Chang-soo, secretary-general of the PUAC, gave a lecture on the topic of 'Prospects for Realization of Peace on the Korean Peninsula and the Roles of Young Council Members.’ Pointing out that unlike the Cold War and post-Cold War eras, today’s world is faced with the possibility of protracted uncertainty and clashes between ideological camps, he said that the international community should strengthen the UN's role as a conflict deterrent while re-establishing international norms.

He identified the following as short-term tasks for realizing peace on the Korean Peninsula: (1) Maintaining and spreading a consensus on peaceful unification domestically and internationally through daily efforts for peace, (2) Continuing efforts to approach denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula from building trust, (3) Reinforcing military security and developing strategies to improve inter-Korean relations highlighting new security, and (4) Promoting cooperation for the realization of the sustainable development goals for the South and the North. 

Most notably, he suggested that we spread the discourse of ‘Peace Now, Prosperity Next, and then the Unification’ emphasizing that PUAC members should contribute more to the daily promotion of peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula based on the constant peace and reunification events held at 228 chapters in Korea and 45 chapters in 131 countries abroad.  In addition, he emphasized the necessity of revitalizing the peaceful unification activities of the youth council members at a time when the PUAC is required to take the lead in laying the foundation for peaceful unification activities at home and abroad.

During the free discussion session that followed, various opinions were presented by young council members who participated both offline and online..

Major proposals made at the event include: (1) Peaceful unification activities using new media such as Metaverse (Jeong Seung-ik Jeong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul),(2) Young council members’ activities with North Korean defectors (Lee Jin-hyeok, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul), (3) The PUAC’s roles in the process of putting an end to the division of Korea (Kim Ik-jae, Yeongdo-gu, Busan), (4) A balanced review of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula (Lee Seung-han, Kinki, Japan), (5) A forum for public discussion about authority, resources, policies to expand youth participation in the PUAC (Lee Su-ho, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul), (6) Expanding exchanges and communication between domestic and foreign young council members (Kim Doo-hwan, Southern Europe), and (7) Cooperation from authorities to increase overseas young council members (Lim Jae-hwan Lim, Orange County, USA)

Expressing gratitude for young council members’ active participation and expression of opinions, secretary-general Kim Chang-soo said that improvements are continuing in the 20th PUAC term to strengthen youth activities, such as the establishment of the youth vice-chairmanship, promised that he would continue to listen to the opinions of young members and reflect them in the activities of PUAC.

The event became a meaningful time for young council members at home and abroad to contemplate together about the PUAC’s practical efforts for peace, prosperity, and unification on the Korean Peninsula.