The NUAC Culture, Arts and Sports Standing Committee (Chief: Ra Chong-uk) held its 12th Standing Committee meeting to discuss “Creating a Cultural Bond Between South and North through the Case Study on German Unification” on Feb. 24 at 10:00 am.

"We need to utilize our culture-art-sports capacity to reduce the internal conflicts and boost the morale of frontline soldiers; through this, we will gain organized power to combat North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles," said Chief Ra Chong-uk in his opening speech. On the other hand, in his speech, Executive Vice-chairperson Yoo Ho-yeol emphasized the role of a Central Committee member. "We should overcome national difficulty wisely by having the confidence that we are able to change the perception of North Koreans and Kim Jong-Un,” he said.

Moreover, prior to the conference, a contract was concluded with the Piano Society of Korea (Chief Director: Chang Hae-won) and Korea Enameling Association (Chief Director: Park Soo-kyung) to form a foundation for peaceful unification by transferring traditional craft techniques to North Korean defectors, providing opportunities for economic independence, and widening the unification cultural education.

The session kicked off with a presentation followed by free discussion among all participants.

First, Senior Researcher Son Gi-woong of the Korea Institute for National Unification gave a presentation on "Creating a Cultural Bond Between South and North Through the Case Study on German Unification."

Senior Researcher Son emphasized that German unification was a different kind of unification. "The West prepared for unification, but the people of the East finished it," he said. It was not the financial support of the West but the diverse agreements that were adopted between the two states that improved the living standards of the East, which contributed largely to the unification, he added.

Specifically, the consistency of the government's unification policies and policies against North Korea, paving of a cultural path in accordance with the Dresden Declaration, establishment of a cultural community upon green détente, and starting of a culture-art-sports festival with North Korean defectors were suggested.

In the debate that followed, various ideas on the presentation were introduced, one of which was that there should be a separate approach toward leaders of North Korea and the common people. Moreover, systematic plans to win North Korean's heart, methods to penetrate North Korea culturally and choose strategically when to do so, etc., were suggested to address the situation regarding North Korea's nuclear and missile issues.