International Symposium

Social Dialogue on Peace and Unification of the Korean Peninsula

The Model of ‘National Consensus on the Unification’ created together by 6,000 people over the past 4 years.

Over the past 70 years, a schism within Korean society has gradually deepened due to rapidly changing policies related to inter-Korean relations as regimes change. A major reason behind this disharmony is that the citizenry have been excluded from contributing to the design process of the future of the Korean Peninsula, which is directly related to their safety and well-being.

Civil society organizations, religious communities, and experts believe consistent and constructive policy implementation would be possible regardless of regimes if a national agreement on peace and unification has been made. They have proposed the need for the agreement for many years. President Moon Jae-in announced ‘The National Unification Contract’ as one of his presidential election pledges and ratified it as a national policy after the election in 2017.

Seven religious and civil society organizations representing conservative, centrist, and liberal viewpoints founded the ‘Social Dialogue for Peace and Unification Building of Korea,’ (Social Dialogue PUB) as an independent, non-governmental organization for social dialogue. Since 2018 Social Dialogue PUB has facilitated numerous social dialogues utilizing a variety of formats on various content regarding peace and unification. Additionally, Social Dialogue PUB has developed a model for deliberative discussions in cooperation with the Ministry of Unification and local governments. As a result, a total of 6,000 people a year have engaged in these social dialogues over the last four years.

Social Dialogue PUB and the Ministry of Unification have been instrumental in furthering social dialogue with the goal of adopting the ‘National Unification Contract’ since July 2020. Approximately 300 people selected by a trusted polling agency based on criteria including a balance of region, gender, ages, and political orientations engaged in a preliminary social dialogue. Furthermore, an additional 100 or so civic participants were selected after a pre-social dialogue, to partake in eight deliberative discussions (8 hours each) to adopt the ‘National Unification Contract’ and propose it to the government and the National Assembly.

Social Dialogue PUB would like to share the experiences and insights gained from the past four years of social dialogue for peace and unification with experts in domestic and foreign conflict resolution and publicizing in order to generate in-depth discussions on its meaning and to provide further direction on how to proceed, including suggestions for action and possible recommendations through international symposiums. 

I. Overview

• Date : November 24 (Wed), 2021 1:00 pm (KST)
• Co-Hosted by
  • Social Dialogue for Peace and Unification Building of Korea (Social Dialogue PUB) 
  • The Seoul Assembly of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council
• Sponsored by
  • Ministry of Unification, Republic of Korea
  • The Peaceful Unification Advisory Council (PUAC)

 

II. Program

Opening Session

• Moderator
  • Youngsoo Kim｜Co-Chair of the Steering Committee, Social Dialogue PUB (Executive director of Program development, National Council of YMCA of Korea)
• Congratulatory Remarks 
  • In-Young Lee｜Minister of Unification, Republic of Korea
  • Sang-hee KIM｜Deputy Speakers of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea
  • Mikyung LEE｜Vice Chairperson of  the Seoul Assembly of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council
• Greeting
  • Insung Jung｜Standing Co-chair, Social Dialogue PUB

 

Session 1. The Background and Strategy of Social Dialogue on Peace and Unification

• Moderator 
  • Seongho Jhe｜Professor, Chung-Ang University Law School 
• Speakers
  • Hunjo Lim｜Co-chair of the Steering Committee, Social Dialogue PUB (Co-chairman/Secretary General, the Korea NGO Association)
  • Taeho Lee｜Co-chair of the Steering Committee, Social Dialogue PUB (Co-chairman of the Steering Committee, Civil Society Organization Network in Korea)
• Discussants
  • Jujin Jung｜Director, Center for Peace & Conflict Resolution
  • David Schecter｜Coordinator, Democracy R&D

 

Session 2. The Process of Social Dialogues on Peace and Unification and its Deliberation Effects

• Moderator
  • Taehyon Kim｜Co-chair of the Steering Committee, Social Dialogue PUB (Director, The National Council of Churches in Korea)
• Speaker
  • Chunseok Kim｜Executive Manager, Hankook Research
• Discussants
  • Kangwon Lee｜Executive Director, Korean Center for Social Conflict Resolution
  • Tatsuro Sakano｜Co-founder, Japan Research Forum on Mini-Publics

 

Session 3. The Journey of ‘Social Pact on Peace and Unification’

• Moderator
  • Kangja Jung｜Standing Co-chair, Social Dialogue PUB
• Speaker
  • Heejae Yoo｜Vice President, ORP Institute
• Discussants
  • Jwa-Seop Shin｜Professor, Seoul National University
  • Lawrence Philbrook｜Director, Institute of Cultural Affairs Taiwan 

 

Final Discussion. Significance and Limitations of Social Dialogue on Peace and Unification

• Moderator
  • Jwa-Seop Shin｜Professor, Seoul National University
• Discussants
  • Jaeho Eun｜Senior Research Fellow, The Korea Institute of Public Administration
  • In-jeong Lee｜Professor, National Institute for Unification Education
  • Changwon Yoon｜Professor, Seoul Digital University

*Conducted as a roundtable discussion where 1-3 session speakers participate