South Korea's unification minister embarks on European tour to study peacebuilding
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young will travel to Northern Ireland, Ireland and Germany this week to learn from their peace processes and promote Seoul's North-Korea policy.
South Korea’s unification minister, Chung Dong-young, will depart for Europe on Monday for an eight-day itinerary that includes Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Germany. In Northern Ireland he plans to converse with participants of the local peace process to understand how decades of conflict were resolved. His Irish stop involves meetings with conflict-resolution scholars and a special lecture at Trinity College Dublin, organized by the student group Society for International Affairs, on peaceful coexistence with North Korea.
The final leg takes him to Bremen, where he will represent Seoul at the German Unity Day ceremony marking the 36th anniversary of German reunification and meet Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte to discuss German support for Korean peacebuilding. He is scheduled to return home the following Monday.
Why it matters
The trip aims to gather lessons from successful peace models to strengthen South Korea's approach toward North Korea.
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