The Beijing Chapter (head: Jeong Jae-hwa) of the 17th term of the National Unification Advisory Council NUAC was inaugurated on Jul. 15 (Wed.) at Kuntai Hotel in Beijing, China.

A total of 100 people attended the ceremony including the following to show firm resolution of harmony among Koreans living in China and strong desire for the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula: Hyun Kyung-dae, Executive Vice-chairperson of NUAC; Kim Jang-soo, Korean Ambassador to China; Lee Chang-ho, Vice-chairperson of the China Assembly; Jeong Jae-hwa, Chairperson of the Municipal Chapter Association; NUAC members of the Beijing Assembly; and Korean students in China.

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  Hyun Kyung-dae,
  Executive Vice-chairperson of NUAC

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  Lee Jae-min,
  Secretary of the Beijing Assembly

The inauguration session was held in two parts. The first part included the screening of a video introducing the 17th term of NUAC, presentation of the letter of appointment as NUAC member and secretary, watching of the President’s Greetings, reporting of the action plans of the 17th term of NUAC, election of executives of the 17th term of the Beijing Assembly, and reporting of business promotion plan. A special lecture titled “Political Situation Surrounding the Korean Peninsula and Inter-Korean Relations” was given by Lee Won-hyeong, former Korean ambassador to Cambodia.

Hyun Kyung-dae, Executive Vice-chairperson of NUAC, presented the letter of appointment to all the members attending the ceremony including Lee Jae-min, Secretary of the Assembly on behalf of President Park. All the NUAC members took an oath resolving to fulfill their roles as NUAC members to promote the peaceful unification of our fatherland.

Jeong Jae-hwa, chairperson of the NUAC Member Association, said in his opening address that NUAC would exert its best efforts for NUAC to secure and enhance its official position in China, and that all the members would faithfully perform the missions given to them.

“NUAC members play an important role in establishing a policy for peaceful unification based on free democratic fundamental order, which is the principle of national unification as set forth by Article 4 of the constitution of the Republic of Korea,” The Executive Vice-chairperson said in his inspirational address. He stressed that national unification is achieved by us, not by anybody else, and asked the members to perform their roles as diplomat of unification for peaceful unification.

According to Kim Jang-soo, Korean Ambassador to China, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of independence this year while facing the reality of division of territory behind the successful history for the past 7 decades. “President Park Geun Hye’s administration proposed ‘establishing a foundation for peaceful unification’ as one of the four key notes of administering state affairs, realizing that national unification will be a critical momentum for another takeoff of the Korean economy. Ambassador Kim added that the NUAC members’ role of introducing South Korea’s policy for national unification and efforts to prepare for it as well as collecting the opinions of overseas Koreans on the unification and conveying them to the Korean government is very important now more than ever at a time when discussions on national unification are ongoing in societies,” he added.

Lee Chang-ho, Vice-chairperson of the China Assembly, believes that the roles of the youth would be important after the country is unified, and that we need to think about it seriously. He reminded the attendees of the fact that many important independence movements got organized and took place in China, stressing that NUAC members in China should make national unification a reality beyond a mere theory, and that their efforts would serve as a source of great strength for the Republic of Korea to achieve peaceful unification.

Dong Seung-cheol, chief of the Overseas Region Division of NUAC, made a report on the “Roles and Function of NUAC,” “Goals of Activities and Promotion of Subjects of the 17th-term NUAC,” and “Major Projects of Overseas Assemblies in the Second Half of 2015” for overseas members to understand their roles and function.

After the inauguration session, Lee Won-hyeong, former Korean Ambassador to Cambodia, gave a lecture to the attendees titled “Political Situation Surrounding the Korean Peninsula and Inter-Korean Relations.” The ceremony ended with dinner and singing of the Unification Song, wishing for the peaceful unification of Korea.