Mr. Klitz, Kim Jong Il died. How does this affect the regime in Pyongyang? Will it start to crumble?

Klitz: We should not expect that. There is no power vacuum. Since three years Kim Jong Il’s son Kim Jong Un has been prepared for the handover of power, although they expected a longer transitional phase.

So the picture of the very powerful man is a false perception of Kim Jong Il?

Klitz: It would be wrong to think that Kim Jong Il made all decisions by himself. North Korea is ruled by a family clan. Kim Jong Un will be the next leader and thereby supported by his family. This will not change the system.

The Asian stock-markets have already responded to the current situation. What will be further political consequences of Kim Jong Il’s death for the region?

Klitz: It is possible, that more deliberate provocations will occur, especially in the Yellow Sea. Perhaps nuclear tests will be imposed for the third time.

South Korea put its military on alert…

Klitz: …which is only a precautionary measure.

Many can still recall the images, when the father Kim Il Sung died. Will these images recur?

Klitz: North Koreans are in sorrow, the scenery of 1994, when Kim Il Sung passed away is very similar. Like his father, Kim Jong Il was mother and father at the same time for the people and is treated as an icon. In North Korea people have strong emotional ties to the leader of the country.

(Translation)

The interview in German can be found here: http://www.freiheit.org/Walter-Klitz-Perspektiven-Nordkoreas-nach-Kim-Jong-Il/617c20831i/index.html

The numerous meetings with local government representatives provided insights in the financial situation of the municipalities in Germany and possible solutions to overcome the debt crisis. In South Korea, the municipalities are financially still highly dependent on the central government and there are concerns that the country’s increasing overall debt will severely reduce the municipalities’ budgets. Therefore, to the Korean delegation the current debate about the financial crisis of the city hospitals in Munich was of great interest.

Roland Werner, vice minister of economy and transportation of the Free State of Saxony, representatives of the city of Dresden and the Saxon Association of Liberal Local Politicians stressed that municipalities would gain more public property through consequent and well-aimed privatization. The meeting with representatives of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Berlin and the German Association of Cities highlighted the importance of privatizing at the “right moment”. In addition, the experience of the privatization of the water supplying company in Berlin has shown the necessity to take decisions exclusively based on economic factors and to abstain from political interventions.

In a meeting with the treasurer of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and former mayor of the city of Bremerhaven, Manfred Richter, the Korean delegation reflected on their visit and the newly gained insights. They concluded that privatization can only be successful if competition with other companies exists and the regulatory force of the market is guaranteed.

After talks with political decision-makers and factory visits in Pyongyang, Mr. Hoffmann noted that economic modernization is making progress, also due to the increasing and visible engagement by China. Furthermore, he gained important insights into Korean society, contemporary history, power structure and decision-making processes in the country. In his welcoming speech delivered during the workshop Mr. Hoffmann emphasized that the issue of renewable energies had been on the political agenda even before the disaster at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Despite further progress in technological development nuclear power continued to pose a certain risk. Therefore, Germany had decided on a radical change in its energy policy and even considered to put an end to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Representing the DPRK side, Kim Jong Su, Director General of the State Commission for Science and Technology addressed the participants in his welcoming remarks. Leonhard Thien, director of the Geothermal Energy Network of North Rhine Westphalia, in his presentation, focused on the current status of the development, generation and potential of geothermal energy in Germany. The presentation was followed by an open and long Q&A session. The high-ranking position of the participants showed that North Korea ascribes importance to renewable energies. The State Commission for Science and Technology is subordinated to the cabinet and in hierarchy superior to the ministries.

In the official talks both sides stressed the importance of dialogue. According to Ri Yong Chol, Vice Director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers’ Party, the engagement of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in North Korea was exemplary. The FNF delegation also noted increasing and concrete interests of international investors with regard to a possible opening of the DPRK market.

The discussions of the workshop proved to be very productive. In his keynote speech Ambassador Lee Joongyu, Chancellor of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, stressed that “Cultural Diplomacy establishes a foundation of trust and friendly feelings and has spill-over effects on other political and economic areas”. Walter Klitz, Director of the Foundation’s office in Seoul, admonished in his welcome remarks Cultural Diplomacy should not be confused with Nation Branding.

After their presentations, the speakers from Korea and overseas structured their recommendations which will serve the Korean government to formulate its Cultural Diplomacy strategy, along the following items: 1. Agenda of the Proposed Cultural Diplomacy Initiatives, 2. Agents or Organizers of the Proposed Cultural Diplomacy Initiatives, 3. Vehicles of Proposed Cultural Diplomacy Initiatives, and 4. Target Audience of the Proposed Cultural Diplomacy Initiatives.

Their detailed recommendations are as follows:

1. Agenda of the Proposed Cultural Diplomacy Initiatives

We suggest that the cultural diplomacy initiative should be designed to help educate, enhance, and sustain the relationships between the East Asian countries and cultures. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to help enable relationships between the East Asian region based on dialogue, understanding and trust. As we address the ways in which the different East Asian countries are perceived and presented in their neighboring countries, we suggest a cultural diplomacy initiative that assists in correcting mis-information that might be present and supplements partial information that might already be present. For example, in the case of South Korea, we could organize discussions about the “Korean Wave” and the implications that it has on the perception of Korea abroad. These discussions should be inter-disciplinary in nature in order to provide a more comprehensive view of the country and the countries national identity as a whole.

In addition, we feel as if cultural diplomacy can serve a role in assisting in overcoming historic conflicts that have not yet been resolved between the East Asian countries and ultimately lead to reconciliation. We believe that through humble and honest discussion and exchange about the strengths and weakness as well as the successes and failures of each of the East Asian countries, one can come closer to achieving sustainable reconciliation. We suggest that the initiative support and facilitate multi-language exchanges as well in order to support the learning of local languages in the region.

This initiative should assist in strengthening the cultural bridges as a first priority, however whenever possible should also assist the economic and political bridges between the East Asian countries, which is of course a complimentary win-win goal. Our goal would be to achieve stronger multilateral relationships based on sincere and sustainable understanding and trust.

2. Agents or Organizers of the Proposed Cultural Diplomacy Initiatives

In order to maintain as much neutrality as possible, and to achieve the maximum amount of success, we suggest that the main agent or organizer of the proposed cultural diplomacy be a non-governmental, non-profit, and non-partisan organization. This organization should then work in partnership with public sector, private sector and civil society organizations in each of the respective East Asian countries. Through these partnerships, greater neutrality will be achieved and there will be less of a risk that the cultural diplomacy initiative will be perceived as being linked to a governmental or private sector agenda.

3. Vehicles of Proposed Cultural Diplomacy Initiatives

Our suggestion for the vehicle of the proposed cultural diplomacy initiative would be to create a sustainable network of young professionals and students within the East Asian region. One suggestion was to create a structure to enable easier student exchange within the East Asian region similar to the ERASMUS program in Europe. The other suggestion was to create an East Asian Young Leaders Forum similar to that of Young Leaders Forum of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. Such an interdisciplinary sustainable network of young leaders could serve as a very efficient and cost-effective way of creating a new platform for the high level leaders, the young leaders and civil societies in the East Asian region to come together.  These programs should be designed as interactive as possible and should be built in such a way to attract the highest level of press and media attention as possible. The choice of themes for each of the programs is very important and should address the key opportunities and challenges facing the region in contemporary times.

4.Target Audience of the Proposed Cultural Diplomacy Initiatives

We suggest that the target audience be as broad and inter-disciplinary as possible. The region in focus when we discuss “East Asia” is: ASEAN plus 3 (China, South Korea, and Japan), plus 3 India, New Zealand, Australia). The student exchange programs should include as many academic fields as possible and the young leaders network should remain inter-disciplinary and international in nature.

“South Korea’s economy has been substantially liberalized in the past two-and-a-half decades, the most recent wave of liberalization occurring after the financial crisis of 1997. The basic parameters of market economy are intact. But Government intervention in Korea is still greater than in most advanced economies”, Walter Klitz, the Resident Representative of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation stated in his welcoming remarks.

The threats to economic freedom are manifold and some are inbuilt into the system (eg, the tradition of excessive legislative activity; the way legislation is developed and imposed on member states, the existence of treaty-based objectives that undermine economic freedom). There are threats to political freedom as well inherent in a) the tendency to ignore the principle of subsidiarity and b) the emasculation of the sovereignty of national parliaments. Deficiencies in economic freedom both at a European and at national levels go a long way in explaining many of the current problems the EU faces, not least the sovereign debt crisis. In the long term the European Union can only survive if its members reaffirm, embrace and implement free market principles in their dealings with each other.

As reported within the media extensively, North Korea’s supply situation was disastrous in spring and early summer. Klitz had the opportunity to visit a cooperative on the country side north of the city of Pyeongseong and gain first-hand impressions of the early crop of 2011. In addition to the “usual problems” North Korean farmers face every year (such as a lack of fertilizer, gas and modern equipment) heavy rain and massive floods in autumn of 2010, an extremely cold and long winter and a serious drought this spring “added up to a severe shortage of food”, the directress of the cooperative told Klitz. Together with the chairwoman of the People´s Committee of the province of North Pyeong-An, she gave him a tour around the degenerated farmland, that once used to be the country’s breadbasket.

The yielded crops are expected to significantly undercut those of 2010. Usually the output of crop on the fields should amount to 2 tons per hectare minimum. This year, only 1 ton per hectare is to be expected. Due to harsh weather conditions (“the hardest winter in 60 years” the guides said), also the turn-out of the potato harvest is expected to be extremely low. While 15 tons per hectare are considered average, the visited acres will only yield to 5-6 tons per hectare this year. In order to compensate and bridge the hard time until the next crop comes in, the cooperative intensified vegetable production. “The stocks are empty and the early crop of 2011 is almost lost. Nevertheless, the situation on the countryside is still far better than within the big cities, but we are all waiting for the rice crop. Until then, even though farmers do not have much to give these days, cities have to be supplied. The critical period” - the two ladies noted - “is now!”

En route to the cooperative and at other trips along the outskirts of Pyongyang, the FNF representative spotted numerous military units working on the fields. It became quite obvious that the whole country was mobilized to sow the summer’s crop. A rich harvest in 2011 (and foreign food aid) is desperately needed for the leadership to pick from an embracement of riches at the “party of the century” in 2012 and prove to its people and the world that the DPRK has really become a “prosperous and powerful nation”.

However, undersupply and malnutrition of parts of North Korea’s population are not ineluctable. Even if the DPRK might heavily rely on food-imports (or aid), the country indeed is rich on natural resources (such as ferromolybdenum and rare earths). A consistent development of those resources and trade could easily open up a back-door to prosperity! A small minority in Pyongyang – despite of all sanctions - seems to already profit from trade and the countrie’s treasures of the soil. The numbers of luxury cars on the capital’s streets, a recently introduced North-Korean debit card system named “wings” (NaRae) and some “popular” café’s and restaurants already testify of “the wealth of a few”. 

(Foto left: Modern times in North Korea, note that the license plate of the car refers to the date 7-27. On June 27th. 1953 the armistice agreement ended the Korean War. Foto right: introduction of the debit card) 

In a meeting with the head of the North Korean Chamber of Commerce, Klitz discussed further possibilities of cooperation in regards to a regulatory framework of trade and investments. Representatives of two of the leading North Korean companies involved in mining and trading raw materials provided Klitz an insight of their trading activities with China. All conversations confirmed his assumption that deposits of natural resources, especially rare earth and molybdenum, are a lot higher than known in most parts of the world and that trade - so far - is completely monopolized by China. China buys resources for “political prices”, reprocesses the raw materials and later sells them on the world-market. The one-sided trade with China is already bringing in enormous piles of money.

Within the past five years of travelling to the DPRK, Klitz has steadily built up reliable working-relations with important representatives of the ruling Workers’ Party. In order to work inside the secretive country -  and to get to a position that allows to openly debate critical issues as well – it is important to frequently meet decision-makers, to try to understand the ratio behind the countries action and to build-up a certain level of trust. This is why, even on short trips, Klitz uses every opportunity to meet with high-ranking party officials. On his latest three-day trip he came together with the head of the European Desk of the International Department of the Worker’s Party three times for political talks. Once again he was impressed of his interlocutor’s level of up-to-date information on international as well German politics. Klitz pointed out, that the Western world would expect a strong signal of the DPRK’s commitment to denuclearization. His North Korean counterparts indefatigably expressed the DPRK’s readiness to bring forward the process of denuclearization and rapprochement under the principle of „action for action“, as agreed upon within the declaration of chief nuclear negotiators of the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia on September 19th, 2005.

Since the late 1970s, China has been undergoing a great transformation as it has sought to modernize the country and meet the challenges of globalization. Its integration into the mainstream capitalist system has led to its rise as a trading power, which has remarkably altered its position in the global economy and its influence in world politics. Likewise, China has increasingly taken a more active role in regional and global politic affairs in order to expand its national interest and global influence. Its overall rapid rise has spawned concerns over the motivations and ambitions of its government, as many are convinced that the country’s rise as a world “superpower” is only a matter of time.

Nevertheless, Dr Yu Yingli of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS) put China’s ambitions into perspective by stating that China was “unwilling to assume responsibilities beyond its capability” and therefore – at least for now – would focus on domestic problems. While keeping an eye on maintaining stability in the region, China nowadays prefers to “attract followers” rather than perusing hegemonic policies she said within the first session of the event “China as a Superpower – Global and Regional Perspectives”.

The nations most sensitive to China’s rise are those that can be considered its “strategic neighbors”. The conference, within a session on “Case Studies on China’s Bilateral Relations”, examined China’s policies towards Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma) and North Korea in detail. Four distinguished experts presented their views on China’s relations with their respective country. It became quite evident that China is following consistent patterns within its foreign policies towards its neighbors. In pursuit of its own economic and political interests China is anxious to ensure stability in the region. Furthermore it strives for a regeneration of technology and productivity gains in traditional economic sectors, is eager to boost trade and expand as well as secure its access to the sea, raw materials and other resources.

For more information have a look at our eventbox:

Click button # 1 for the highlights of the conference

Click button # 2 for the presentation on: "China and the US competing for World Power?" by Yu Yingli

Click button # 3 for the presentation on: "Sino-North Korean Relations: China’s North Korea Dilemma and Suggestions for South Korea’s
Policy toward China" by Jaeho Hwang

Click button # 4 for the presentation on: "Sino-Vietnamese Relations: Realizing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and China: Obstacles to Overcome" by Ngoc Thach Pham

Clicke button # 5 for the presentation on: "Sino-Myanmar Relations: Important Dimensions of Omnipresent Paukphaw" by Zaw Oo

Click button # 6 for the presentation on: "Sino-Cambodian Relations: China, the Umbrella-Shade of Cambodia?" by Soubert Son

The organizers of the international forum, gathered about 1200 experts in Jeju in order to discuss and outline a “New Asia for Peace and Prosperity”.

In recent years the forum has expanded its scope to issues facing the entire world. What started as a biannual meeting in 2001 became an annual event, broadening its focus from regional peace to economy, environment, culture and other issues and, according to the organizers, strives to emulate the role model of Davos.

In a plenary-panel of six speakers on “Korean Reunification and New Opportunities”, Mr. Klitz addressed the audience and highlighted that creating a climate of trust is crucial in order to make any progress on the Korean Peninsula. It would be essential, he stressed, “to interrupt the loop of recrimination and to renounce the use of force” if the aim of peaceful unification is to be sincerely pursued.

For more information follow this link to an article within the Jeju Weekly or have a look at the report "Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity Kicks Off" at Arirang TV.

The seminar started with the keynote speech by Mr. Walter Klitz, Resident Representative of FNF. Mr. Klitz pointed out the worrisome fact that the snowballing local debt wasn’t included in the calculation of the total national debt, which has been misleadingly downplaying the scale and significance of national debt of Korea. Then, he stressed the urgent need to objectively and systematically assess the debt situation by including all state controlled enterprises and institutions on national and local level including also the debt of the social funds, according to the 2001 guidelines of the International Monetary Fund.

The keynote speech was followed by the first speaker, Prof. Son, Hee Jun from Choengju University, who proposed that revenue resources between central government and local government should be re-allocated in a way to promote financial decentralization. Pointing out that any reform or institutional improvement aiming to promote local autonomy and decentralization have been yet made, he criticized that the current grant and subsidy system of central government for local government has actually deepened the local dependency on the central. Currently, the proportion between national tax and local tax in national budget is 80% to 20% and it needs to be gradually changed to 70% to 30% and ultimately 60% to 40%.

Also, Prof. Bae In-Myung from Seoul Women’s University shared the idea that the decentralization subsidy system introduced in 2005 has actually worsened local finance due to the increasing financial burden of local government in terms of social welfare. He claimed that it would be desirable to clarify the nature of social services offered by local governments, to re-categorize them in order to ultimately impose different financial burden on local governments accordingly. He also said that a block subsidy would be more helpful than a specific subsidy in order to promote local financial autonomy and strengthen decentralization.

Lastly, Prof. Kwon, Young-ju from Seoul City University compared Japan and Korea in terms of the right of local government to taxation and tried to draw policy implications on how Korean local governments could secure their autonomous right to taxation. For instance, a lesson could be drawn out of the fact the revenue from local tax takes only 11.4% out of total national budget and the revenue gained from local tax out of total local budget only takes 25.5% in Korea, compared to Japanese counterparts, respectively 26.3% and 44.7%. It needs to scale up the revenue from local tax, while reducing the resources transferred from the central to local government.

Active discussions followed the presentations. Among other inspiring ideas was a claim that legitimacy and feasibility of financial decentralization depends on whether we could gain a public consensus on it and without any political power supporting the idea, we won’t be likely to witness any further progress in financial decentralization.

The seminar was attended by more than eighty people, who were mostly local counsellors, researchers and students. 

The first course which took place at Hanyang University on February 14 dealt with the “legislation process of municipal ordinance”. The issues dealt with included specific topics directly related with municipal ordinance, whose main legislators are local councillors; the scope of legislation of municipal ordinance, legislation techniques, problems of limited legislative power of local councilors, analysis of actual cases on conflicts and conflict management arising from ordinance. 

For the second course which was held on February 18, it offered lectures on a broader range of issues which would have direct impact on responsibilities of local councillors: budgeting and settlement of accounts, auditing skills on administrative affairs, and planning of local development projects.

More than 20 local councilors from Seoul and other provinces attended the courses and a certificate was awarded by Hanyang University to successful participants after completion of the program. 

After the opening session, that included a strong plea of Dr. Chung Se-Wook to strengthen local governance and community in order to foster decentralization and democracy, 14 experts and scholars of the field discussed democracy’s structure, performance profiles and challenges as well as the role of political actors in a free society. Among the international orators were Prof. Aurel Croissant of the University of Heidelberg, who presented his “concept of embedded democracy”, and Wilfried Kruse, deputy mayor of economic development and head of the department for internal organization of the city of Düsseldorf.

The experts agreed that local governance “keeps decision-making closer to the citizen, giving the citizen more opportunities to give positive or negative feedback to political decision-makers” as Casey Lartigue, an associate fellow at the Center for Free Enterprise, put it into words. He continued:  local autonomy “needs to be focused on empowering citizens to allow them to make decisions themselves. Local governance should be considered a success when citizens have more self-ownership and self-governance.”

In regards to the current situation in the still very centralized Korea the scholars criticized the process of the nomination of local candidates, the omnipresent upside-down approach, the lack of checks and balances and the fact that local decision-makers can hardly be held accountable since they still receive most of their financial resources out of the state budget.

For more information please check out the proceedings by following this link.

The Korean “miracle” in economic and political development has drawn admiration and strong interest from developing countries around the world. In 2009, South Korea joined the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). In 2010 it will organize the G20 Summit, and in 2011, the nation will host the OECD High-Level Forum for Aid Effectiveness. Domestically, the Korean government has also started to enhance its institutional framework for providing Official Development Assistance (ODA). This includes: the introduction of the International Development Cooperation Basic Law (enacted in January 2010, made effective in June 2010). The Basic Law stipulates the fundamental ideals, objectives and principles of Korea’s ODA: (i) poverty reduction, (ii) gender equality, (iii) sustainable development and humanism; (iv) promotion of economic cooperation; and (v) peace and prosperity of international society. Although Korean ODA is still small in absolute volume, as this Law stipulates, South Korea has expressed its strong commitment to the international community to become a bridge between developing countries and developed countries to share its relatively recent developing experiences.

We think that at this important juncture, it is important to extract key lessons learned from Korean development and suggest the role for Korea to play in the international community. Although Korea’s successful experiences are relatively recent, we must be mindful that its specific development models pursued in the 1960s and 1970s cannot be exactly copied by today’s developing countries—especially since the dramatic change on the global economic and political environment after the Cold War. Nevertheless, we firmly believe that there are several important relevant factors that drove the Korean miracle—strong political commitment, domestic “ownership” of the development strategy, and shared motivation to nation building and development. Also, Korea’s efforts and achievements in institutional building, ranging from the state, government, private sector and community-levels, offers useful, concrete, and pragmatic experiences.

Based on this recognition, the participants of the workshop organized by the Jeju Peace Institute and Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty would like to provide the following recommendations. 

Democratization and Institution Building

Efforts at improving the quality of institutions and the democratization of society should go along with the economic development of the recipient country. Joint assessment of needs should be formulated between recipient and donors. Particularly effective mechanisms to fight corruption should be developed.
In institution building a realistic and pragmatic approach is essential. Even if institutional deficits are visible, it might be necessary to start with existing systems and set realistic goals for their improvement. A continuing update of goals has to be secured to improve the accountability of the recipient country.

Education

We firmly believe that Korea could make valuable contributions, through knowledge sharing and stimulate the motivation of developing countries and their institutional learning process.

As recent Korean history has shown, people are the most important resource in development. A full human mind is the ultimate capital; ideas are the driving force of progress. In this perspective ODA should be focused on liberating human resources. This means first of all investing in education. In doing so, priority should be given to basic and vocational education, without neglecting higher and in particular technical education.  Moreover the needs of the respective countries and regions should be explored in detail to be able to structure investments in education accordingly.

Inclusive stakeholder participation

To facilitate ownership of projects supported/funded by South Korea, it is important to involve civil society in the formulation of project proposals, in setting targets, and in monitoring and evaluating project implementation. This can be achieved through strengthening national statistical systems, supporting research institutes, doing research-based policy advocacy, and supporting organized groups such as business associations and labor organization.

Supporting stable and equitable markets

Korea’s development assistance policy should encourage of domestic companies to make foreign direct investments in developing country partners, bringing in technology as well as capital. Another broad aspect of development assistance is to open South Korean markets to its developing country partners’ exports. Korea should also work within international forums to expand market access for developing countries and to examine the implications of international labor migration.

A “global financial safety net” is important to help guarantee developing country partners’ financial stability and facilitate their development. Aid efforts should also focus on high-potential, income-generating small and medium industries (which industries will depend on the comparative advantages of the particular partner).

The provision of the “right” mix of grants and loans is important to support humanitarian needs, and the development of partner countries’ social and economic infrastructure. The Korean experience shows that loans can also be useful to enhance the credibility of a borrowing country and ensure its commitment to and ownership of the purposes for which the funds are borrowed. 

Participating speakers and moderators were Prof. Dr. Thomas KALINOWSKI (Ewha Womans University), Prof. Dr. Arthur GOLDSMITH (University of Massachusetts Boston), Ms. JUNG Woojin (Korea International Cooperation Agency), Mr. James SHIKWATI (Inter Region Economic Network in Kenya), Dr. Falk BOMSDORF (Former FNF Director to Russia), Prof. OHNO Izumi(National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Japan), and Dr. AHN Eungho from Korea Export and Import Bank, Dr. YOO Jay Kun (WorldVision Korea) and Dr. Carolina G. Hernandez(Institute for Strategic and Development Studies, Inc., Philippines).

 
Among the distinguished participants were also Mr. RHEE Byung-kook, Vice President, Korea International Cooperation Agency and Mr. Manfred RICHTER, Treasurer of the Board of Directors, FNF & Former Chief Whip of the FDP Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag, who respectively delivered keynote speech and congratulatory speech, as well as Dr. Rainer Adam, Regional director of FNF Southeast and East Asia.

After short remarks of the two directors of FNF and IFES and a congratulatory address of the German Ambassador Hans-Ulrich Seidt, Manfred Richter, the treasurer of the FNF board of trustees, delivered the keynote speech on “Twenty years of Reunification in Germany”. 

Richter, a young boy when the Berlin Wall was built and chief whip of the governing FDP when German unification was negotiated, addressed key issues of the process of unification and - from his own experience - shed light on what was eventually going on behind the scenes. It was a prudent new policy towards Eastern Europe and East Germany, he said, that allowed some progress within the 1970’s and made division a little more bearable. Never the less Richter stressed that it took more time, the background of Gorbachev’s Glasnost and Perestroika Policy, the rage of the people and finally a hole in the Iron Curtain, to set an end to Germany’s division. and finally led to unification at 00:00 CET on October 3rd, 1990.

“The main burden of reunification”, Manfred Richter emphasized, “was with the governments”. Germany’s neighbors were scared of a unified Germany; their reluctance had to be overcome. “At the same time numerous well-trained young people in the east literally sat on packed suitcases” and threatened that they would “go to where the Deutschmark is” without a fast monetary union. Additional time pressure created the awareness that the Soviet Union leadership might not last long enough for Germany to unify, but their signature was needed on a number of documents.

Richter acknowledged that a number of unsolved challenges still exist today and achieving Germany’s “inner unification” completely might take another generation, but he called to mind that millions of people were better off today than they were 20 years ago. “Yes, it was expensive”, he concluded, “but it was worth it”.

In the first session on “Unification in the Global and Regional Context Uwe Wissenbach, who is currently heading the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Korea as Chargé d'affaires a.i., spoke on „Unifying Europe and German Unification“ .

To Wissenbach German unification is an appealing success-story, hard to copy, that strongly contributed to unifying Europe. Reunification, he stressed, was negotiated – not given. It was only feasible due to preceding achievements of the European Community, NATO and ‘Ostpolitik’ and part of a bigger unification process that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union’s socialist satellite states.

North East Asia, Wissenbach assured, is integrating economically as well. However, he pointed out, more trust, political will and leadership is needed to push forward the agenda of cooperation and security in Asia. “Political integration is regularly held hostage” in the region and the task remains to persuade the population that “their well-being will be best served by moving away from a competitive system, based on a balance of power”.

Since it was the ASEAN that, as a consequence of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, invited China, Japan and Korea to the ASEAN+3 summits, Wissenbach paradoxically identified the association as the driving force behind cooperation in North East Asia. Uwe Wissenbach painted a clear picture of the German and European Unification’s interaction and described how Asian integration takes place in a very different setting.

Klaus Gollert, former minister of health, labour and social affairs and deputy prime minister of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in the second session spoke on „The Role of Political Parties in the Process of German Unification“.

Gollert grew up in former East Germany, and was actively engaged in the peaceful revolution within the GDR. As a medical doctor turning politician he played a pivotal role in shaping the process of German unification. In his presentation he gave unique insights into the political landscape and the role of parties in East Germany. He traced back historical backgrounds, developments, problems and consequences people were facing when they were not member to almighty Socialist Unity Party (SED). In order to evade omnipresent pressure to join the SED, he “immigrated” into one of the rather toothless block parties, the “National Democratic Party”,  accepting manifold drawbacks for himself and his family. Gollert illustrated, that those politically active within the GDR, who later transformed their socialist dictatorship and lead their country towards liberty, had not been politicians by profession. He pointed out that, despite of what might be written about the end of socialism in Germany in the future, the events that took place within the GDR in 1989 were indeed a revolution: a revolution that mainly differs from other historical revolts because no shots were fired.

Within the last session of the conference on “Social Society and Unification”, the well-known German opinion pollster Reinhard Schlinkert analyzed and evaluated the current political mood in Germany, 20 years after unification, and backed up his arguments with charts of the most recent polls, provided by Infratet Dimap, a leading German psephology institute, that Schlinkert heads as chief representative.

Please take a look at our eventbox and the conference’s program.

Opening Session:

Opening Address
LEE Su-Hoon
(Director, IFES, Kyungnam University)

Welcoming Address
Walter KLITZ
(Resident Representative, FNF Korea Office)

Congratulatory Address
Hans-Ulrich SEIDT
(German Ambassador to the Republic of Korea)

Keynote Speech
Manfred RICHTER
(Treasurer of the Board of Directors of FNF, Former
Chief Whip of the FDP Parliamentary Group within the German Bundestag)
“Twenty years of Reunification in Germany”

Session I : Unification in Global and Regional Context

Moderator
HAMM Taik-young
(Professor, University of North Korean Studies)

Presenters
LEE Kyu-Young
(Professor, Sogang University)
“German Foreign Policy after Reunification: Continuity and Change”

Uwe WISSENBACH
(Counsellor, Chargé d’affaires a.i. European
Union Delegation to the Republic of Korea)
“Unifying Europe and German Unification”

PARK Myung-Lim
(Professor, Yonsei University)
“Globalization, East Asian Regional Order, and the Korean Unification
- Viewing from the Historical - Comparative Perspective”

Discussants
KIM Haknoh (Professor, Yeungnam University)
KO Sangtu (Professor, Yonsei University)
KOO Kab-Woo (Professor, University of North Korean Studies)

Session II : Issues of Political and Economic Integration

Moderator
LIM Hyun-Chin (Director, Seoul National University Asia Center)

Presenters
Klaus GOLLERT
(Former Minister of the German Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
“The Role of Political Parties in the Process of German Unification”

SONG Tae-Soo
(Professor, Labor Administration Training Institute, Korea University of Technology and Education)
“Process and Effects of Germany’s Economic Integration - Focusing on the Labor Market”

KOO Choon-Kweon
(Professor, Yeungnam University)
“The Political Economy of the German Unification and Korea”

Discussants
KANG Won-taek (Professor, Soongsil University)
KIM Heungchong (Director, Center for Regional Economic Studies,
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy)
SON Gi-Woong (Senior Research Fellow, Korea Institute for National Unification

Session III : Civil Society and Unification

Moderator
Falk BOMSDORF
(Former Resident Representative of FNF to Russia)

Presenters
Reinhard SCHLINKERT
(Chief Representative, Infratest dimap Gesellschaft für Trend- und Wahlforschung mbH)
“Social Impacts of German Unification”

LEE Dong-Ki
(Professor, Seoul National University)
“The German Left’s Criticism and Alternatives on the German Unification in 1989-90”

PARK Sun-Sung
(Professor, Dongguk University - Seoul)
“Korean Unification and Civil Society”

Discussants
CHO Dae-Yop (Professor, Korea University)
KIM Ho-Ki (Professor, Yonsei University)
LEE Yong-Sun (Professor, Co-President, Korean Sharing Movement

You may take a look at what they saw at the DMZ by following this link.

Klitz came back from his one week trip with the impression that the economy in the DPRK is visibly improving. Luxury goods from all over the world can be seen. The security in Pyongyang was enforced and very tight and everything indicated that the delegates of the conference who were nominated by the party and the military would arrive anytime soon. But three days after Klitz’s arrival in Pyongyang the security forces were withdrawn and it became obvious that the conference was postponed. Although Klitz was not given any reason, he assumes that the decision was driven by multifaceted factors.

He was honored “in recognition of his outstanding research expertise in the field of local autonomy, his devoted efforts for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the profound implication of his work for capacity building in legal, political and economic fields”, as the certificate states.

Roughly 120 guests attended the ceremony that was held at the International Conference Hall on campus of Hanyang University. Among

In his congratulatory speech, President Kim Chong-Yang referred to the close cooperation of FNF and Hanyang University since 1987 and their common efforts to promote democracy, civic participation, local autonomy and political decentralization. He stressed that the jointly established Center for Local Autonomy had meanwhile established itself as “a major player in the field”. Walter Klitz, he pointed out, had deepened and developed the close partnership. “Under his leadership, remarkable steps forward towards local autonomy and civic participation in Korea have been made”. 

He acknowledged that Mr. Klitz, as “one of the few international officials granted entrance to the DPRK”, had “build up reliable working relations with North Korean decision makers” and even in challenging times, “does his utmost to keep the dialogue alive” and “bridge the two Koreas”. His “restless efforts” he continued, would be “appreciated by both governments”. In Korea, he remarked, Klitz was recognized as a “strong independent advocate for stability, peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula”.   

President Kim congratulated the honoree on his award and welcomed him “as a genuine member of the Hanyang family”. “I also hope”, he concluded his address, “that this occasion will boost up the Naumann-Hanyang partnership and amplify the educational, cultural and political exchange between Germany and Korea”.

Mr. Walter Klitz thanked the President for his kind words. “This award”, he said, “illustrates the strong commitment of Hanyang University (…) to our partnership”. “This partnership has indeed accomplished a lot. It has very much accelerated the cause of liberty. With great pride we look back to a worldwide exceptional process of democratic, economic and political transformation”.

Klitz thanked his predecessors and pointed out that they as well had dedicated themselves to the cause of wellbeing of all Korean people. “I would like to thank them for their hard work and the strong enthusiasm they devoted to achieve our common goals to help communities create a sustainable future”. “I am deeply convinced that peace and prosperity would not be possible without individual freedom and social responsibility. They are”, Mr. Klitz inferred, “two sides of the same coin”.    

Speaking for the South Korean Administration the Deputy Minister for Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lee Yong-joon, welcomed the progress made at the Review Conference in the area of disarmament. “The signing of the New START Treaty between the US and Russia is a very promising step. But the North Korean issue represents one of the most serious challenges to the NPT”. It should be noted that the Review Conference has made progress on identifying an effective mechanism to address the issue of the withdrawal clause.

The participants agreed that the no first use declaration is needed and only further reduction of nuclear capacities of the US and Russia can change the political dynamics of many countries to go nuclear. By estimates, as many as seven ASEAN states would acquire some form of nuclear power generation capacity by 2025.

The NPT should become a core international centrepiece for peace and stability. It still faces some challenges, i.e. how to create incentives to bring all the nuclear players into the NPT regime in order to make it global and to develop an enforcement mechanism.  On the way to a nuclear free world the NPT might become an effective tool to counter proliferation of nuclear material if it incorporates the fact that a one size fits all approach is not adequate to the various situations in the regions of the world.

If you would like to get an impression of our conferece, please take a look at our eventbox or follow the links below:

SUMMARY:

The 4th Jeju Peace Institute Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty Joint Workshop

"NPT - Global and Regional Implications"

Keynote Speech:

LEE Yong-joon

Deputy Minister for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea

Session I:

 “The NPT and its Global Implications”

Presentations:

“The American Perspective on the Future of the NPT”
Prof. John E. ENDICOTT
Woosong University
USA

“European Perspective on the Future of the NPT”
Amb. Brian McDONALD
Delegation of the EU to the Republic of Korea
EU

“The Future of the NPT”
Prof. Brahma CHELLANEY
Centre for Policy Research
INDIA

“ASEAN’s Perspective on the Future of the NPT”
Dr. TANG Siew Mun
Institute of Strategic and International Studies
Malaysia

Discussion Session I:

“The NPT and its Global Implications”

Session II:

Presentations:

“Thinking about the Current Nuclear Issues: A Korean Perspective”
Dr. KO Bong-jun
Jeju Peace Institute
Republic of Korea

“Russian Perspective on Regional Implications of the NPT”
Dr. SHIN Beom-Shik
Seoul National University
Republic of Korea

“Japanese Perspective on Regional Implications of the NPT”
Prof. TAKESADA Hideshi
National Institute for Defense Studies
Japan

Discussion Session II:

“The NPT and its Global Implications for East Asia”

For more information on the 2010 NPT Revue Conference check out "In Focus: NPT".

Among a few distinguished Korean speakers the German Ambassador, Hans-Ulrich Seidt and Walter Klitz, the local Representative of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty in Seoul, were invited to address a high-ranking audience and point out the geopolitical accomplishments and socio-economic achievements of German unity.

Mr. Klitz, due to his excellent contacts to decision-makers within North Korea, frequent discussions inside the reclusive state and his expertise as active player engaged in the process of German unification, is frequently invited by KINU for public lectures. In his speech he pointed out the natural rights of every human being, such as the right of life, liberty, possession and the pursuit of happiness, that 16 million Germans recaptured in 1990.

For some pictures and quotes check our eventbox